By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.–It was a long and busy day for the Paris City Commission, which conducted two meetings Thursday. At the first session, the commission unanimously put its stamp of approval on construction of a new two-story municipal building that will contain City Hall, the Paris Police Department and a small fire station. That meeting is covered in a separate article which was published Thursday.
At the evening meeting, the commission:
–Heard a report on the Fiscal Year 2023 Audit from Matt Wood, partner with Alexander, Thompson, Arnold. Wood said it was a clean audit, which one finding which was a technicality. He said no one at City Hall was at fault in the technical issue, which involved filing on one form by a deadline.
–Conducted a first reading on the 2024 property tax rate ordinance which calls for no increase from the current $.90 per $100 of assessed value.
–Conducted first reading of the FY 2024 Proposed Budget Ordinance which calls for two additional police officers/SROs; a new position of Community Engagement Director; street paving budget of $1.3M; five major grant projects requiring matching funds of $385,000; A5% increase to cost of health insurance; a 3.8% COLA for all employees; an increase in longevity bonus;and a total of almost $6.3M in capital expenses.
–Reappointed Jill Coker to the Paris Utility Authority Board.
–Adopted the Henry County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation plan as presented by County EMA Director Ron Watson.
–Heard the monthly report from Finance Director Tammie Hopper which shows a 14.86 percent sales tax incrase in the month of March.