Paris Utility Authority

Paris Utility Authority, doing business as Paris Board Of Public Utilities, is a U.S. local government entity headquartered in Paris, Tennessee that receives federal grant sub-awards for disaster recovery and infrastructure management, operating almost entirely as a sub-recipient (97% of recent awards) rather than as a prime contractor or grant recipient.

The Paris Board of Public Utilities is a municipality-level utility provider with minimal federal contracting footprint but significant federal grant exposure through state pass-through mechanisms. The entity holds no federal contract vehicles and has not received prime contract awards; its one prime federal award was a $9,290 purchase order from the Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Region 1 in April 2022 for utility line work at an entry gate. The overwhelming majority of federal activity flows through sub-grant awards channeled via Tennessee state agencies, particularly the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.

Federal grant sub-award work centers on FEMA's Public Assistance Program (CFDA 97.036), which funds disaster response and recovery for state, local, tribal, and territory governments. Paris received 32 sub-awards from Tennessee Emergency Management Agency as the prime grantee, with award dates clustering in three tranches: December 2021 (PA 4637), March 2023 (PA 4712), and July 2023 (PA 4735). These represent debris removal, emergency protective measures, facility restoration following declared disasters, and hazard mitigation compliance — standard municipal disaster-recovery work. The entity also holds a sub-award from the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation for an Asset Management Plan (AMP) grant, awarded May 2026. A June 2026 PA Program sub-award from Tennessee Emergency Management Agency represents the most recent federal activity in the source.

The apparent discrepancy between combined potential value ($9 thousand) and combined dollars obligated ($10.7 million) reflects the nature of FEMA sub-awards: potential values in the source represent individual awards' ceiling or project-specific caps, while obligated dollars capture actual reimbursements across multiple disaster declarations and project codes. This entity is a recipient of federal pass-through funding for municipal utility and public infrastructure recovery, not a vendor competing for federal contract work or serving as a subcontractor to federal primes.