Photo via The City of Amarillo
City of Amarillo officials have responded to inquiries made by The Amarillo Pioneer last week regarding the cancellation of planned public hearings on the proposed 2022/2023 city budget and tax rate.
Responding to an email from The Amarillo Pioneer, City of Amarillo Communications Manager David Henry said the following about the cancelled public hearings:
“The City Council approved a proposed tax rate that is at or below the Voter Approval Tax Rate, and therefore we will not need to call an election. As such, we have postponed the budget and property tax rate public hearings to allow Council additional time to review and consider the proposed budget.”
As we had previously reported, City Councilman Cole Stanley voted against the proposed tax rate due to the fact that the rate increase included the Civic Center tax notes currently at the center of a lawsuit by businessman Alex Fairly. Stanley, during a council meeting earlier this month, noted that the debt issuance has not been approved yet and that he “would prefer not to tax in advance.”
The 11% proposed rate increase was the maximum allowed under state law without requiring an election. This put the council against a deadline of August 22nd in case the actual rate ended up any higher, as that is the last day to place an item on the November general election ballot. The hearings on the budget and tax rate were scheduled for August 16th and 19th before being cancelled.
There are no items on the agenda for tomorrow’s meeting regarding setting new dates for the hearings, though the usual “Request future agenda items and reports from City Manager” could potentially involve discussions of the matter. The meeting is scheduled for 1:00 pm tomorrow at City Hall.