How much benefit-bang for your tax dollars are you actually getting?
Do you – like the Paris Texas Chamber of Commerce – ever wonder just how much is the actual benefit from taxes? For each of the previous eight years, budgets for the City of Paris, Texas, have increased, just as they have in most communities. 
Ultimately, clear evidence on how much money should be spent, and on what, remains elusive. And how much time can you afford to waste trying to wade through two or three hundred boring pages of government PDF filled with obscure acronyms and confusing charts?
Budgets are complicated—they take many twists and turns—and plenty of info is buried under different boxes and buckets.
The City of Paris budget grew at a compounded 3% annually rate for each of the previous 3-years. Now, it jumps to 4.28%, as Administrative costs for two non-needed assistant city managers and a public information officer, plus support personnel, must be covered. And there is a planned $128 million ($259,201,276 million w/interest) over-priced wastewater treatment plant that will be an excuse to increase the budget for years to come.
But if a city’s budget is growing as its population is decreasing, shouldn’t some benefits from spending need questioning?
Most Texas’ communities have gained population, but the Paris population dropped from the 2000 high of 25,898 down to 24,476 in 2020, according to the U. S. Census.
This in a period when Texas gained 4.3 million new residents, the largest population increase of all 50-states: 20,851,820 (2000) to 29,145,505 (2024), a 22.8% gain. The state budget in the same time period, however, went from $99 billion (increased teacher’s pay $3,000 annually and promised a $1.7 billion tax cut) to $221 billion – a 223% increase. (The 2024-25 budget increased to $321.3 billion.)
Paris’ population numbers were saved by the 1.3% increase in Lamar County growth – from 49,822 in 2010 to 50,484 in 2020.
Unfortunately, 18.2-percent of in-city Paris families live in poverty today – and the percentage is growing; thanks to government.
Making matters worse, those living in Paris, age 65-and over, have increased from 16.7% in 2010 to 19.2%.
How much actual benefit do they get in taxes?
Politicians – governments – cheat. Legislation is written so that legislative members can say they reduced taxes, while increasing taxes. Texas cities are limited to a 3% annual property tax increase, politicians claim. They lie and they know that they are lying. So, how much actual benefit to they get in taxes?
Their laws allow governmental units to create several budgets: an Original, an Amended and an Actual Budget.
Then, there is the General Fund—the main pot which includes police, public works, etc.—an Enterprise Funds (items that function like a business, such as water and sewer fees, but are part of the local government. Some of these can get confusing because some are owned by government but managed by another party, like trash pick-up and disposal).
There is a Capital fund, where you have to watch out for things like debt, which often hides in all sorts of places. And pay attention to “inter-fund transfers”— where money is moved from one bucket to another.
Generally, Paris brags about the inflation-increases in retail sales or another point added to the Hotel Occupancy Tax, and other items, which are not counted as a “property” tax, but adds to government spending.
Our city government, like most governments, spends too much on amenities, which means we’re not all benefiting from taxes as much as we should . . .
“Experts” in government know that “As citizens often lack experience in the public sector and finance, citizens tend to have difficulty understanding how government works.”
Ronald Reagan knew: “Government is not your friend…”
But people in government know those not in government are stupid. THEY know what’s best for us!
Government is the nation’s largest employer. How do you think those 22-million employees vote? Taxes pay their salaries, as well as retirement, health costs, and other perks. Are their decisions based on your interests or “self-interest”?
Do you really think that the law-makers, who create laws that are not in the best interest of those they were elected to serve, don’t know what they’re doing?
We’re not getting our money’s worth when it comes to taxes; however, when it comes to global socialism, we’re getting what we pay for . . .
return to Paris Texas Chamber of Commerce
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