Amarillo City Hall | Photo by Noah Dawson
Amarillo City Council met this week to approve $4.575 million in Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) bonds to fund improvements to the Hodgetown Baseball Stadium required by the Major Baseball Team.
The potential need for the bonds was first presented to the council in November, with consultant Steven Adams of Specialized Public Finance estimating the necessary price tag to be $3.5 million. According to City of Amarillo CFO Laura Storrs, additional requirements from the MLB have pushed the cost of the upgrades higher.
Storrs opened her presentation by asking to confirm that all council members had a copy of the draft ordinance. This may have been in reference to the issuance of tax anticipation notes meant to fund improvements to the civic center last year. During a trial that resulted in Judge William Sowder voiding those notes, Councilman Cole Stanley, who voted against authorizing the notes, testified that he was not given a copy of that draft ordinance ahead of the vote. All members of the council during this week’s meeting noted that they had been given a copy of the draft ordinance. “This is hot off the press, they came in about 10 minutes ago,” said Storrs.
Steven Adams, a consultant with Specialized Public Finance who helped present the item, noted that the interest rate on the bonds would be about 5.42%. The total cost to the city including interest and principal payments will be $7.650 million paid over 20 years. The bonds were awarded to Frost Bank by a unanimous vote of the council.