Amarillo City Council will consider approval of the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year during their upcoming August 1st regular meeting.

The budget for the fiscal year, which begins October 1st, totals $4,164,340, which is a slight decrease from the current budget of $4,220,340.

Three line items (local mileage, Amarillo Global Food Hub membership, and miscellaneous marketing) have been removed from the budget. The removal of the $15,000 miscellaneous marketing line item appears to be balanced by a $5,000 increase to the existing primary employer outreach line item and a $10,000 increase to the Building Your Future workforce events line item, both of which are listed as marketing items.

Aside from items that have been removed, the line item set to have the largest percentage cut is Texas Panhandle Region Development Corporation travel. That line item currently has a $5,250 budget and is set to see a decrease to $4,250. The largest cut in terms of dollars is TPRDC’s office support, which is a transfer to AEDC. The current budget for that line item is $46,950 and is set to be reduced to $40,030.

The line item with the largest percentage increase is postage, which is set to be doubled from $1,000 to $2,000. In terms of dollars, the largest increases are the Ports-to-Plains membership, the Building Your Future workforce events, and the Insurance & Bond line items, both of which are set to see a $10,000 increase.

The Amarillo Economic Development Corporation is funded by a 0.5% sales tax rate.

The council is also set to consider $5.1 million in spending items during the meeting, including the purchase of a concession trailer, the creation of an artificial intelligence “digital human,” and a 60-month lease of a landfill scraper. For more details about the upcoming meeting, click here for our summary of spending items. The meeting is scheduled for 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 1st, at Amarillo City Hall.