Potter County District Courthouse | Photo by Noah Dawson

The parties to the Civic Center funding lawsuit won by businessman Alex Fairly last month met again for a virtual hearing this morning to discuss competing motions by Fairly and the City of Amarillo to modify Judge William Sowder’s ruling.

This hearing was rooted in a motion made by the City of Amarillo earlier this month, asking for the court to clarify the legal reasoning behind the ruling and to modify areas of the judgment the city did not agree with. The City of Amarillo took issue with essentially every portion of the ruling.

Following the motion made by the city, Fairly’s legal team also filed a similar motion seeking the court to declare that the City Council further broke the law by not imposing a tax as required by state law when it passed the tax anticipation notes at the center of the lawsuit. The city argued that the use of the term “impose” in the law did not necessarily mean updating the tax rate within the ordinance, partially because the normal method for calculating the city’s tax rate is done in late summer, shortly after the appraisal district has finished annual appraisals. Essentially, the argument from the city was that, outside of the timeframe of the usual tax rate setting process, the city does not have the required information to determine what rate is needed.

Fairly’s legal team disputed this argument, stating that it “is belied by the evidence in this case.” Fairly’s team in particular pointed to a presentation during the City Council meeting featuring the passage of the tax anticipation notes, pointing out that “they looked at what effect that would have on tax rates.”

The court is expected to have clarification on the legal reasoning behind the judgment against the city submitted by Monday, though Judge Sowder joked a delay might occur “if the court ate too much Turkey” during Thanksgiving. A deadline of 75 days from the October 25th submission of the original decision is set by law for a modification to the ruling.