Motions made by both The City of Amarillo and the legal team of businessman Alex Fairly to modify the ruling in Fairly’s lawsuit against the city were denied by Judge William Sowder today.

The lawsuit alleged Amarillo City Council broke the law by using anticipation tax notes to resurrect the failed 2020 Prop A Civic Center project. In a ruling last month, Judge William Sowder agreed with Fairly, voiding the ordinance.

Shortly after the ruling, the City of Amarillo filed a motion to modify the ruling, challenging essentially every portion of the decision. (This motion was made to Judge Sowder and was not an appeal.) Fairly’s legal team then filed their own motion, asking for Judge Sowder to further rule that the city broke the law by not imposing a tax when they passed the anticipation tax notes.

Judge Sowder denied both motions, meaning that the ruling stands, at least for now. Both parties have made preliminary filings ahead of a potential appeal to the Seventh Court of Appeals.