The Paris City Council on Aug. 12 reviewed a proposed fiscal year 2024–25 budget that keeps the city's maintenance-and-operations tax rate below last year while prioritizing police pay, completion of the wastewater treatment plant and a mill-and-overlay streets program.

The budget summary that Interim City Manager Gene Anderson and finance staff presented projects 69 funds across the city and identifies the general fund reserve at about $34.18 million and the water and sewer fund at about $22 million. Anderson told council the proposed tax-rate components are in compliance with the Texas Property Tax Reform and Transparency Act of 2019.

The proposed budget includes a 2% cost-of-living adjustment for full-time positions and a $25-per-month increase in the city contribution to employee health insurance. It also contains a targeted pay increase for sworn police personnel; the packet raises starting police pay from $56,000 to $66,000 in the draft and council members discussed a further increase to $70,000.

Council and staff discussed how raising sworn salaries and hiring additional officers would be paid. Anderson and staff explained that to fund roughly $500,000 more in ongoing payroll (the scale discussed), the city could set a tax rate at the de minimis level allowed under state law for municipalities under 30,000 population. Anderson said the de minimis rate would raise about $500,000 and that moving to it would be the likely way to cover the extra cost if council pursues a higher salary target and the hiring described by Police leadership.

On hiring, staff said the police department is authorized for 40 sworn positions but currently has substantial vacancies (about 14 vacancies). City staff and the police chief advised council that certified hires take longer because of testing and academy availability; staff estimated the department could realistically hire roughly six to seven officers over the coming year under an aggressive recruiting program.

Other priorities identified in the draft budget include continuing phase 1 and preparing for phase 2 of the new wastewater treatment plant (staff said the project is about six months behind schedule), a street mill-and-overlay program using leftover GO bond proceeds and reserves (approximately $3.2 million combined), capital purchases across departments (vehicles, equipment and IT investments) and a water meter replacement program. Staff proposed a new utility-billing clerk to handle an increased call volume tied in part to utility-rate changes.

Council directed staff to schedule budget workshops and follow the charter-required public hearing timeline. The clerk read a timeline that includes: council providing edits on Aug. 26; a public hearing and proposed-adoption hearing on Sept. 9; and a special meeting on Sept. 10 to set the property tax rate if required.

The council did not take a final vote on the budget at the Aug. 12 meeting; staff said the budget would return for public hearings and formal adoption under the statutory schedule.