Category: paris texas chamber of commerce

 

 

 

A BABY BORN IN PARIS TEXAS  

. . . . IS GOING TO FIND THINGS DIFFICULT.  BEING SLAPPED ON THE BUTT IS A DISGRACE, BUT (NO PUN INTENDED) FINDING YOU’RE $17,931 IN DEBT TO THE CITY ON YOUR FIRST BREATH ISN’T THE WAY YOU WANT TO ENTER LIFE. 

ITS ENOUGH TO MAKE ANYONE CRY.

Understanding THE CITY OF PARIS TEXAS BUDGET

In fiscal year, 2023-2024, the City of Paris claimed it only increased its budget by 3.5%. But it raised more revenue from property taxes than last year’s budget by $1,912,026 – a 20.31% increase.  Of that amount, only $101,001 was from new property added to the tax roll in 2022-2023.

This fiscal year, October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025, the budget increased again.

The following, because of a lack of budget transparency, is based on the previous year’s City of Paris budget. So, the actual debt owed by a baby born in Paris Texas is more this year – and in future years:

REVENUE ($53,418,850.00)

General Fund: $ 31,051,550.00

Water and Sewer Fund: $ 20,987,300.00

Sanitation and Landfill Fund: $ 1,380,000.00

CURRENT DEBT:

The total of bonds and other debt obligations (principal and interest) outstanding is $123,445,000 of which $37,091,035 will be paid by property taxes. (But fees, permits, fines, retail sales, hotel occupancy taxes, local electric, gas, internet, phone, other taxes and/or fees are also paid by property owners, as well as by renters of property in Paris, and by those visiting Paris. Either directly or indirectly, property taxes are paid by everyone, i.e.; part of a retail item’s cost pays a portion of the property taxes owed by the retail outlet’s owner.)

An assessed property with a $100,000 taxable value owes a debt of $477.82 to the city.

ANTICIPATED Budget and Debt Costs:

City’s new Wastewater Treatment plant – an estimated base cost of $128,000,000. (Not counting interest.)

Current Budget:                                             $   53,418,850.

Current debt & Obligations:                         $ 133,861,575.

WWTP Anticipated New debt (P & I):        $  259,201,276.   

        Total Budget, Current & Future Debt Costs:            $  446,481,701.00

 

          $ 446,481,701 .00is a tidy sum, even for the Texas Lotto.

Other items of interest:

Capital purchases (one-time purchases); vehicles, certain equipment, studies, etc., are difficult to predict. An example being the recent $125,000 wasted for a local housing study so the city can have an excuse to do what it wants to do, which will not help real housing problems.

Surplus funds: Needed for dedicated annual revenue in case another assistant city manager is needed or some other man-made disaster occurs, or a big hunk of Paris is swallowed by a giant creature flying in from a far-off galaxy. When funds are not available, re-occurring or new revenue must be found.

So a healthy reserve needs to be available … as its just money a baby born in Paris, Texas, doesn’t need – nor, the taxpayers.

 

Each of Paris’ 24,900 citizens will owe $17,931 to the City of Paris, based on today’s dollars.

The promised “. . . no increases in fees . . .”

Since 2003, this is the disastrous result of what the City of Paris Texas has done regarding a needed wastewater treatment plant:

The originally estimated wastewater plant cost of $30-to-$35 million jumped to $76 million in 2017. Five years later, by 2022, the cost jumped to $100 million. Now, barely into 2024, the estimated cost has reached a staggering $128 million. (No official estimate has been released on how many gallons of wastewater per day [GPD] the plant will treat.)

What simply drives all that off the scale of common sense is that taxpayers cannot say they were not warned.

From the city’s original estimated costs, the Paris Chamber continually has stated that what Paris did (and is doing) hits a new high in stupidity.

Jiggery-pokery, however, is not unknown in politics. Consider: In 2013, facing a $47 million bond vote for water and sewer improvements, citizens were told that “no increases in water and sewer rates would be needed.”

But in 2017-18, the city added an estimated $7.60 monthly to the local sewer rates (around $100 a year MORE than we were paying) to “help pay for a new sewer treatment plant.” Then, on 4-1-2021, water and sewer rates were again increased another $7.65 a month , and “routinely increase every six months” until 4-1-2026. And again, we were told that the increases were needed to help “finance construction of a new wastewater plant.”  

No matter how some may want to spin it, that was the spirit of intent in all the statements.

So, where’s the plant? Of course, there isn’t one.

SO, IF the money generated from the increases in rates have been used for other purposes, where is accountability?  IF the income from those past rate increases isn’t in an established, ear-marked fund for a new plant, as was promised, where did the money go?

And, please, no Happy Talk of it being used to “pay down other debt.”  The “other debt” was, supposedly, being paid from the tax and utility rate increases for those purposes.

But WHY a $128 million costs?

 

A Look at independent reporting on types and costs of wastewater treatment in Texas.

The Texas Water Newsroom, produced by the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), was created to tell the stories of Texas water—the people, places, issues, and efforts—on water and wastewater. So, let’s look at examples of just one funding source for wastewater infrastructure (and development of wetland and wildlife areas):

There were – are – billions of dollars available from public and private sources for proposed wetlands and wildlife areas; especially, those associated with reuse projects. Both such projects were the Paris Texas Chamber of Commerce recommendations back in 2012 for a portion of the flood plains adjacent to Lake Crook.* We even threw in the fact that such projects would gain favor for grants and low-cost loans, thereby reducing the cost of a new wastewater plant.

IF Paris had acted, the cost for a treatment plant likely would have been less than $30 million, and be up and running by now . . .

The Paris leadership ignored the recommendation and, by doing so, are now presenting the taxpayers a bill of $128 million ($259,201,276 million w/interest) for not acting. Likely, too busy finding ways to dump more debt on a baby born in Paris, Texas; and to give more tax money away to private firms that don’t need it.

We’ve known for years that growing pressure in the U. S. to develop resilient, drought-resistant water supplies — particularly for the West — wastewater recycling for potable use was rapidly becoming more important than ever. (A recent article from Wastewater Digest explores emerging technologies for wastewater recycling, for purposes ranging from potable reuse to mineral extraction and basic agriculture.)

 

* If interested, email us (parischamber@paristexaschamberofcommerce.com) and we’ll send you a copy of the recommendation to the Paris City Council, the PEDC, and what used to be the Lamar County Chamber. Its still a viable and workable endeavor…

                                                                    return to     Paris Texas Chamber of Commerce

Links:

      The Phone

      Local Government

      Residential Renewal or Stupidity

the city of paris  is adding a Public information (BS) Officer to the staff.

Paris needs a public information officer like a stray dog needs more fleas.

While years of weeds were still standing in some places and a new crop growing all over town, the City of Paris grew an assistant city manager and a deputy city manger to help the city manager to grow more government.

As the Paris Texas Chamber of Commerce previously asked, What did Paris need most, weeds cut or a larger city administration?”

Can anyone explain to local taxpayers why the city’s government is growing when the U. S. Census show that Paris has been losing population since 2000?

In the last two years alone, the city budget grew in excess of seven percent (at 3.5% compounded each year) which, in ten years, will add an estimated 40-percent to the taxpayer’s cost of government.

Over the last 2-years, have city services gotten 7% better? Were 7% of the city streets improved? Older neighborhoods improved 7%? Net jobs increased 7%? Have family net incomes across the board increased by 7%? In-city population increased by 7%?

And now, we’re adding a public information officer to tell us what?

 

Paris has been, and is, told a lot of things. Some are true; most are not. An example being, “No new taxes.” (Tax rates, like appraisals, can go down or up or stay the same. When appraised values go up, and rates stay the same, you still pay more. The increase is a new tax.)

Appraisals are guesstimates on market value, and when the guess is not correct, it’s wrong. A property’s actual value is only determined by its sold price, which has little to do with appraisal guesstimates.

Adding two new assistant city managers have certainly increased the city’s administrative costs over 7% — and we’re now adding a Public Information (or BS) Officer, who will spend 30–percent of their time telling us how things are going good in Paris, 33.5-percent covering up for city managers and assistants and council members, 66.5–percent in liaison (politicking) with friends to get their stories straight, and 90-percent of the time hoping some of us believe (him, her, or whatever alphabet they prefer).

 

The weeds keep standing, litter continues its decorating of streets, cars and other vehicles are parked in front yards, junk is in open view, and Paris increases the city budget to assure an administrative control overload.

It is in development and implementation of policies that encourage private business investments in local families and neighborhoods, which keep the economic gates open to equal economic opportunity, are how communities are more likely to achieve success.

Government is like tying one end of a 100-foot rope around your neck and the other end to an 18-wheeler leaving a Kerrville, Texas, truck stop on its way to El Paso – 490 miles and 7 hours and 30 minutes away on Interstate 10. The first 200-feet are not so bad.

But when that big rig starts hitting the posted 80MPH speed limit, you begin to lose tract of things.

And government has no speed limits of its own.

But it sets the speed limits we’re demanded to follow.

                                                    return to Paris Texas Chamber of Commerce

Links:

    The Big Myth

       A Good Example of Bad Government

     Trash Pick-up

Paris, Texas, is a good example of bad government.

Our local governmental units – like governments everywhere – spend tax money on “amenities” (to buy votes) and on a few insider programs for well-paying cronies. Spending on necessities, usually identified as an emergency, take years.

Promises are lost while plugging another hole in the Spending Dike.

It’s why Paris has infrastructure issues: Chunk-holes held together by narrow asphalt streets; intersections that don’t meet city ordinances; leaks of treated water; dangerous sidewalks; areas that flood; sewer plant problems; neighborhoods surrendered to bight, decay, and rot; redlining issues; ignoring those who actually need help; to name a few.

It’s not always Margaritas, Mai Tais, and Yahtzee. This, somehow, is shocking to local leaders, and those visitors coming to Paris for a good time or a fight.

Behind leadership’s Happy Talk, however, only a few of the kind hearts and happy souls among the citizenry are happy in their craniums – a result from years of settling for less.

History, of course, repeats itself: Over the past 25-30-years, the leadership hasn’t done much to actually improve all of Paris, but council after council have wasted millions of dollars in that time period not even trying.

Actually, Paris hasn’t made a community-wide development effort since the fire of 1916.

While ignoring development opportunities, insiders gobbled up large portions of the government grants and low-interest loans made available after the 1982 Paris tornado (that wiped out or extensively damaged more than 465 residences and left approximately 1,000 people homeless). It’s one of several reasons why Paris is a good example of a bad government.

Equally as bad (or worse), there is no equal economic opportunity in Paris. Since the mid-1980s, economic opportunity is only for selected segments of the community – the favorite few, plus corporate large box stores, fast-food franchises, and conglomerate-owned retail outlets.

We limit opportunity, in general, to those with money (or access to it).

You can only escape poverty by ownership of private property (assets). Yet, banks now only lend money on cash-flows or on big-ticket consumer items that can be bundled and sold to high volume commercial paper lenders. Under such policies, banks do not make loans for acquisition of income-producing assets (land, building, equipment, fixtures, inventory, etc).

This make assets worthless for financing new businesses openings, which was the original purpose of banks . . .

We penalize the poor in order to subsidize the wealthy (or the somewhat rich).

Consider that the city subsidize developers to build low-income properties, but not potential purchasers of it –  Or those who will live in it and pay rent to the developer.

 

Good examples of bad government are easy to find:

Too many issues hide behind obscure and / or conflicted administrative policies that are only good for confusing most matters. As long as those who are not allowed in the power playpens can be convinced to provide the money for the decision-makers to buy their pies, life is good. At least, for the decision-makers.

Generally, we’re told everything but the facts. It’s why the decision-makers never run out of excuses for why they do what they do.

Generally, government thinks most of us (citizens) don’t know what’s good for us, but that it does.

No wonder so many citizens have lost faith in government, as well as what the national manipulators tell us about open borders, drugs, jobs, inflation, energy, climate, terrorist, crime, Covid19 variants, China, Iran, Hamas, and Tucker Carlson.

A conspiracy is a story of those who find a clear path of action that leads to their desired conclusions, which is denied to others. It is a closed game that is available to the select few; beyond the reach of most citizens.

Sadly, Paris is a good example of bad government.

 

                                                return to   Paris Texas Chamber

 

Links:   Spending Money     

               You Don’t Stiff Your Customers

               Trash Pick-up . . .