By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.–The plan has been worked toward for some 10 years and the time is finally right for consolidation of the city and county central dispatch services.
Meeting Thursday evening, the Paris City Commission approved an interlocal agreement to consolidate dispatch services. The Henry County 911 board will meet in special session next week to discuss and vote on the interlocal agreement for central dispatch. It also will consider granting County Attorney Rob Whitfield a waiver to allow him to jointly represent the Emergency District and other entities.
Paris City Manager Kim Foster said, “For several years now, the idea of consolidating the City and County dispatch services into one centralized center has been contemplated. Although all parties have considered this option to be a positive move for the community, we have previously not been able to clear the many hurdles, mainly financial, associated with consolidation and bring this idea to fruition.”
A grant made available by the state “and a fresh set of ideas has brought this initiative to the point of potential reality,” she said.
Once approved by all entities—city, county, 911 board—centralization would be implemented July 1.
Foster said, “Of all the things on the agenda tonight, this is what I’m most excited about. We’ve revisited this several times but never could find a way. This will be a huge benefit for the city and county.”
Both 911 Director Mark Archer and Dispatch Supervisor Kattica Buckley shared Foster’s excitement. “After working on this for 10 years”, Archer said, “it’s good to finally be there. This will be a huge benefit for everybody.”
Buckley agreed, noting that the dispatchers have met recently “and everyone is excited about it.”
Commissioner Sam Tharpe commended “everybody who came together. You guys made a commitment to this.”
The vote was 4-0 in favor, with Vice Mayor John Etheridge abstaining since he is the chairman of the 911 board.
In other business:
–City Commission reappointed Hansel McCadams to serve as City Judge. City Attorney James Smith explained that the city judgeship is appointed for one year terms. McCadams was present at the meeting and indicated his agreement to continue to serve.
–City Commission approved first reading of the Fiscal 2025-2026 budget. A special called meeting on the budget will be held noon June 26. Items of interest in the budget include:
A revenue neutral property tax revenue estimate, plus
• $1.2M in the street paving budget
• A 2% COLA for all employees
• Eight grant projects with a combined match of $483,700
• Consolidation of Dispatch Services
• The cost of interim financing and construction of Fire Station #1, and design development costs for our new municipal building.
—Foster reported on the pending certified tax rate. “As you know, this year is a reappraisal year for Henry County. Because the reappraisal and appeals processes take time, the official certified rate is not yet available. As was mentioned earlier, the FY ’25 -‘26 budget presented contains a revenue neutral property tax projection. The passage of the budget as presented assumes that no consideration will be given to exceeding the certified rate once it is received.”
The preliminary tax rate information provided by the Henry County Trustee is $0.5677, but is not to be considered the official certified rate as of yet.
—Foster said the city is ‘very, very close’ to beginning the signalization project for downtown intersections. Public information meetings will be held at noon and 5 p.m. June 23. Bid opening will be June 24 at 10 a.m.
—The city issued five new standard business licenses to: Crave 1055 (Restaurant), Olympic Masonry LLC (Contractor), Carmelita’s Mexican Cuisine, Apex Building Co LLC (Construction) and PMB Commercial Services (Equipment Rental & Leasing).