The City of Amarillo announced this afternoon that they are rejecting a petition seeking to repeal the Civic Center funding ordinance passed by the council earlier this year.

The petition, which sought to either have the council repeal the ordinance or place the item on the ballot in May, was delivered to the city on August 29th. According to a press release from the city, the rejection is due in part to a lack of “a valid Affidavit of Circulator.”

This announcement came just as the city reached the end of the 21 day timeframe given to the city to verify the petition. Aside from the technical errors now being alleged by the city, the petition had been hailed as a big success, with organizers pointing to the fact that the requisite number of signatures were obtained in record time. Notably, the press release does not seem to imply the city is contesting the signatures.

With the city’s rejection of the petition, there is still a chance that the ordinance will be thrown out in courts, as the trial in Alex Fairly’s lawsuit over the Civic Center tax notes is set to begin in October.

To keep updated on this evolving story, be sure to regularly check AmarilloPioneer.com.