Amarillo City Hall/Photo by Noah Dawson
The City of Amarillo will soon begin crafting its budget for the 2023/2024 fiscal year, with workshops set to begin on Tuesday, July 25th.
Along with the flooding disaster which began in late May, this will be among the first big challenges faced by the newly elected council. Ahead of the process, we’re taking a look at the current budget, the timeline for crafting the new budget, and what priorities are expected to be on the minds of the council heading into the process.
What does the current budget look like?
The current budget is $490.8 million, which was a 17% increase from the previous year’s budget. The base property tax rate of $0.40628 was a decrease from the previous rate of $0.44334. That was the first cut to the rate since 2006 and was led by Cole Stanley (who was then serving as Councilman Place 1), who pressured the council not to include debt service for the Civic Center tax notes. (Those notes were later ruled “invalid and void” by Judge William Sowder.) The rate was still an effective 2.35% increase, largely caused by increased property appraisals.
The tax rate is composed of a maintenance and operations portion, which is $0.33079, and a debt servicing portion, which is $0.07549.
The largest segment of the current budget is the general fund, which accounts for just under half of the budget. Within the general fund, the largest portion of the budget is public safety, which accounted for $103 million. Outside of the general fund, the largest portion of the budget is capital improvement projects, which accounted for $114,352,664.
The drainage utility operating category, which is likely to be a focus of this year’s budgeting process, accounted for $3,940,026. The current budget gave an estimate of $3.23 million of available funds by the end of the fiscal year.
What is the timeline for the budgeting process?
The first budget workshops are scheduled to begin on Tuesday, July 25th. Workshops are expected to be held on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and (if needed) Friday of that week. They are expected to begin at 8:00 am each day. The council is also expected to hold a regular meeting on Tuesday afternoon of that week.
This schedule is a change from the council’s original plan, which was to hold the workshops during the week of July 17th. Once the workshops conclude, the council will have to officially propose a rate. The council will then hold public hearings and will take multiple votes on the budget and tax rate, culminating
The fiscal year for the upcoming budget is expected to begin October 1st, though the council will likely be eyeing August 21st as a deadline. If the council arrives at a property tax rate with a maintenance & operations portion 3.5% or higher than the current rate, it will require voter approval in November. Should this happen, the council would be required to call the election on or before August 21st. According to a schedule published by the city, the council will hold a special meeting shortly before that deadline on Friday, August 18th.
If the council ends up with a proposed rate that will not necessitate calling an election, the budgeting process could be extended further. This was seen during last year’s budgeting process, where the budget and tax rate were approved on September 8th.
What is the council expected to prioritize during the budgeting process?
A key priority mentioned by each of the members of the council during their campaigns was public safety, so that is expected to be one focus. In our voter guide, Mayor Cole Stanley noted the city’s budget as being an issue that had gone overlooked in the race. He listed first responders as a priority, followed by city services as another priority. Likewise, in listing his priorities, Councilmember Place 1 Josh Craft listed both core services and public safety.
Additionally, with recent flooding, both Mayor Cole Stanley and City Manager Jared Miller have indicated that drainage will be another focus.
Another key area for the new council is likely to be city infrastructure. In our voter guide, Councilman Place 3 Tom Scherlen listed that as an overlooked issue. Les Simpson also mentioned infrastructure, with his answer focusing specifically on sanitation, road improvements, and decaying water/sewer lines.