Editorial: Debt, Debt, and More Debt

Artist’s rendering of an arena originally included in the City of Amarillo’s first Conversation Civic Center project proposal/Photo by City of Amarillo

$680,656,500.

That amount is the total bond debt Amarillo taxpayers have been handed by local taxing authorities since 1987. Thanks to a combination of bonds from Amarillo Independent School District, Amarillo College, and the City of Amarillo, local taxpayers have been handed a very hefty debt load in recent years. This total also does not factor in the millions and millions of dollars in debt local taxpayers have been paying off from certificates of obligation, which taxing authorities have been able to issue without any voter approval.

While this large debt load continues to dominate property tax bills for local residents, the City of Amarillo is once again coming to the taxpayers this November with their hands out. City officials are asking local taxpayers to approve a $275 million bond for various downtown projects, in the middle of an economic recession. This bond would be the largest approved in Amarillo history, according to the Texas Bond Review Board.

This bond is an absolute monster, loaded up with the kind of excess spending that Amarillo’s City Hall has shown it loves to undertake. While billed as a bond for the Amarillo Civic Center, local voters would actually be approving funding a number of projects from a $319 million spending package, including relocating City Hall, construction of a new downtown parking garage, the creation of a central park, and more.

It is also worth noting the horrible timing of this bond. Amarillo taxpayers are being asked to approve this bond in the middle of a recession which has seen many local business shutter for good or struggle to get by. During the Great Recession from December 2007 through June 2009, there was not a single bond proposal offered to Amarillo voters, with leaders not sending the potential for skyrocketing tax bills to the ballot. However, local officials have shown no shame in 2020, marching ahead with a bond election at perhaps the worst time that one could be held.

Local businesses are shut and people are hurting. However, our local officials have shown no interest in slowing down their rush to be a part of the debt pile-on. Debt, debt, and more debt!

It’s time for Amarillo voters to say enough is enough.

$680,000,000 is more than enough bond debt for our local taxing entities. It’s time for our local governments to start living within their means and stop treating citizens like the proverbial cookie jar.

Local voters have the power to stop this insanity. Vote against Proposition A in the November election and demand accountability from our local governments.