The Paris City Council on Sept. 10 voted to ratify that a property tax increase is reflected in the adopted 2024–25 budget and approved an ordinance setting the city's property tax rate at $0.46120 per $100 of taxable value, a change the council's presenter said amounts to a 5.71% increase.

The action matters because city staff told the council the rate will produce $8,530,000 for the general fund and $3,812,626 for the interest-and-sinking fund used for debt payments. Seth, a city staff member, presented the revenue figures and the statutory language council must use to adopt the ordinance.

Council discussion and votes

At agenda item 3 the council took a separate motion to "ratify or acknowledge" that a property tax increase is reflected in the 2024–25 budget, a step staff said is required under Texas Local Government Code Section 102.007(c) before the council adopts a tax rate. The council approved that motion by voice vote; the clerk's roll-call record for that procedural item was not read into the transcript.

For agenda item 4 the council adopted an ordinance fixing ad valorem taxes. The required motion language was read aloud by a councilmember who said, "I move that the property tax rate be increased by the adoption of a tax rate of 0.46120 which is effectively a 5.71% increase in the tax rate." That motion was seconded and the mayor called a record (roll-call) vote as required by Texas Tax Code Section 26.05(b).

During the roll call the transcript records these votes: Councilmember Putnam — No; Councilmember Norner — Yes; Councilmember Ellis — Yes; Councilmember Moore — Yes. The ordinance was approved; the mayor completed the roll call and announced the motion carried.

Legal and procedural context

City staff cautioned the council that state law prescribes both the separate ratification vote for a tax increase reflected in a budget and the precise motion language and record vote required to adopt the tax rate. Staff cited Local Government Code Section 102.007(c) and Tax Code Section 26.05(b) during the presentation. The meeting also referenced the Texas Government Code, Chapter 551, when discussing executive-session authority and noted the Texas Open Meetings Act in the citizens forum instructions.

What the council did not decide

No further tax-rate adjustments, exemptions, or line-item budget changes were made at the meeting. The council did not specify additional vote counts in the transcript beyond the roll call excerpts listed above, and some procedural voice-vote exchanges were not recorded in full in the available transcript.

Next steps

With the ordinance adopted at the Sept. 10 special meeting, the city has fixed the rate that staff said is reflected in the 2024'025 budget; any future modifications would require further council action in subsequent public meetings.