How Paris is run
Who runs Paris, what it costs, and where your money goes
The city manager, council pay, the budget, your property tax bill and who provides each service, from Paris's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 10, 2026.
Who runs Paris
Paris has a city commission: an elected mayor and four commissioners, who all vote. The city operates under the city manager form of government, and the commission appointed Matt Belcher as city manager in July 2025.
What they are paid
Paris city staff
The budget shows payroll lines by department and an adopted pay scale, but no readable total position count or individual pay. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Paris in the red?
Cities must pass a balanced budget, so "profit" and "deficit" mean something different here. The useful questions: does the city's everyday money (the general fund) cover its everyday costs, how much does it keep in savings compared with its own target, and how big are its pension and debt bills.
Savings
Unassigned general fund balance: $14.8M (FY2024-25). City of Paris · May 30, 2026
Why we skip the "budgeted deficit": many cities plan to dip into savings, then spend less than planned. The audited result tells you what really happened.
Where the money comes from and goes
The general fund only: the city's everyday money for FY2026-27.
Comes from
- Occupational license fees$4.8M · 30%
- Insurance premium license fees$2.8M · 17%
- Borrowing (long-term financing)$1.8M · 11%
- Reserves from prior years (operating and capital carryover)$1.5M · 9%
- Property and other taxes$1.5M · 9%
- Business net profits license fees$1M · 6%
- Intergovernmental$735,000 · 5%
- Other (fees for services, franchise fees, road aid, miscellaneous)$2M · 13%
Goes to (FY2026-27)
- Police$5.2M · 32%
- Fire$4M · 25%
- Public works$3.1M · 19%
- Community partners (EMS, E911, parks, planning, economic development)$2.1M · 13%
- General administration$1.1M · 7%
- Maintenance fund$390,200 · 2%
- Commission$213,030 · 1%
Who provides your services
Not everything in Paris is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityParis Police DepartmentCity of Paris
- FireThe cityParis Fire DepartmentCity of Paris
- ElectricityThe cityCity of Paris Combined UtilitiesCity of Paris
- WaterThe cityCity of Paris Combined UtilitiesCity of Paris
- SewerThe cityCity of Paris Combined UtilitiesCity of Paris
- Trash collectionContractorRumpkeCity of Paris
- StreetsThe cityParis Public WorksCity of Paris
Compared with similar cities
The cities in this state closest in population that we cover. Read it for scale, not as a ranking: cities provide different services.
| Per city | ParisKY | VersaillesKY | FranklinKY | AlexandriaKY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 10,130 | 10,734 | 10,759 | 10,994 |
| Top administrator's base pay | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Council member pay | Not confirmed | $13,762 | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| General fund per resident | $1,588 | $1,692 | $1,233 | $1,870 |
| Debt per resident | $1,087 | $4,853 | $675 | $1,528 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $1,897 | $1,527 | $932 | $423 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | — | — | — | — |
Figures as shown in each city's section, divided by its population. Years differ by state, and pension figures are measured differently in each state (each city page says how). Franklin and Alexandria pays another agency for police or fire, so its own staff count is lower.
What Paris publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Partly: Adopted budget posted onlineThe city site posts budget messages. The adopted FY2026-27 budget ordinance is in the June 23, 2026 meeting packet on CivicClerk. City of Paris
- No: City manager's contract findable onlineThe order approving the manager's employment agreement is posted, but the agreement itself was not found. City of Paris
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlinePosted minutes list each roll call vote by member. City of Paris
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes onlineAgendas, minutes and videos are on the CivicClerk portal; meetings are viewable on YouTube. City of Paris
- Partly: Employee pay published City of Paris
Questions to ask your council
- The city's share of CERS pension liabilities was about $19.2 million at June 30, 2025. How will CERS contribution rates affect future budgets?
- Community partners, including EMS and emergency dispatch, take $2.1 million of the $16.1 million FY2026-27 general fund budget. How are these costs shared with Bourbon County?
The fiscal year starts July 1. The commission holds budget workshops in the spring (March 17 and May 20, 2026, plus a joint city and county session on April 2). The budget ordinance gets a first reading in June (June 9, 2026) and is adopted on second reading (June 23, 2026). Property tax rates are set in late summer (September 11, 2026). See who is running for council
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Every number here was checked by hand against the linked document. Cities publish on different schedules, so years differ between sections; each figure says which year it describes. Spotted something wrong or out of date?
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