Paris, Tenn.—Meeting in regular session Thursday night, the Paris City Commission voted to maintain the current tax rate of $0.77 per $100 of assessed value.
City Manager Kim Foster told commissioners, “This year is a reappraisal year for our community. That process has been completed but we have yet to receive an equalized rate from the State. The following ordinance reflects our current tax rate of $0.77 per $100 dollars of assessed value. Until we receive the equalized rate and are able to determine the difference we feel the best course of action is to present the proposed rate for 2020 with no increase.”
The commission also approved the Fiscal Year 2021 budget ordinance which calls for a .5 percent COLA for all employees; an 8.4 percent increase in the cost of healthcare premiums, a 5 percent decrease in all sales and gas taxes due to anticipated results of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The budget also includes $754,735 in capital purchases city-wide; the most significant purchases being a new tri-axel dump truck in the amount of $155,000 and 7 new police vehicles in the amount of $287,000. Foster said these purchases will complete the city’s transition to a take home fleet.
The meeting
Also included:
- Six different grant projects including the splash pad, sidewalks in the HCHS & Rhea area, new signalization in downtown (2 grants), replacement of the Rison Street Bridge, and tourism enhancement including signage and paving around the Eiffel Tower.
- An additional dispatcher in the Emergency Communications Department. This additional employee will allow for a better balance of supervision and better service in what is now a centralized dispatch center for the entire community.
In other business:
–The commission forwarded the request for rezoning from James Snow for property on Memorial Drive (Hwy. 69A). Snow is asking it be rezoned from M-1 (Light Industrial) to R-2H (Residential High Density). This property only has access to Memorial Drive/Hwy 69A. However, it is zoned (M-1) in accordance with the adjacent property that is accessed from Highway 641S.
Foster said, “It should again be noted that this property only has access to Memorial Drive. The adjacent property is accessed on Hwy 641 adjacent to the property that is the location of the local UPS hub.”
Snow has purchased the entire 35.5 acre tract and is in the process of dividing the property into 4 tracts, each consisting of approximately 5+ acres. He wishes to utilize these tracts as a residential/agricultural use.
–City Finance Director Traci Shannon reported a decrease of 4.27% in the retail sales tax revenue for the month of March compared to March of last year. “However, it was the same as FY17 and FY18. Last March was just an extraordinarily good month. We are still ahead of last fiscal year-to-date by 1.07%”, she said.
Revenues were behind expenditures in the General Fund for the month of April. However, fiscal year-to-date figures are still ahead. There were no out of the ordinary expenses in April and expenses are still below budget.
Shannon said, “The month of May will reflect differently though due to principal payments on bonded debt. We typically receive the majority of business tax payments from the State during the month of May and June. However, due to COVID-19, the State has extended the due date for those payments, so we are unsure when we will receive them.”