Amarillo council adopts $557 million budget, raises city tax rate to 43.07 cents

The Amarillo City Council on Sept. 16 adopted a $557 million city budget for fiscal 2025–26 and approved a property tax rate of 43.07 cents per $100 of assessed value, a move the council said will raise more property tax revenue for operations. The votes were recorded as unanimous, 5-0.

The budget increase and tax-rate action fund a package of priorities city staff outlined during the public hearing: a new police officer and a new firefighter; a 4% wage increase for police and a 3% increase for firefighters; roughly $30 million in street capital projects; $36 million in water and sewer projects (including $25 million in grant funding to begin design of wastewater facilities); and continued funding for parks and a new women's clinic at the public health department. City staff said civilian employees would receive a 2% merit increase and a partial pay-study implementation, and retirees would receive a 70% TMRS cost-of-living adjustment.

Council and staff stressed that large pieces of the revenue increase are grant funds, not local tax dollars. City Secretary Mrs. Storrs said $25 million of the $36 million in water and sewer projects is grant funding to begin wastewater design work, and another $5 million in grant funding is proposed for a new emergency operations center.

The tax-rate change moves the city's portion of the property tax from about 38.723 cents to 43.07 cents per $100 of assessed value. Storrs told the public a homeowner with a $100,000 city portion of value would pay roughly $4 more per month; the average home in Potter and Randall counties, at about $278,000, would see an increase of roughly $11 per month on the city portion of the bill. Storrs and other staff repeatedly noted that Potter-Randall Appraisal District (PRAD) sets appraised values and the city cannot alter PRAD determinations.

Public commenters at the hearing urged caution about raising taxes. Kelsey Morgan, who said she lives inside the city, told the council, “I was here today to say that I was against the proposed property taxes increase.” Mike Fisher urged council to consider an adjusted tax-rate measure that accounts for taxes relative to income: “I urge you guys to look at that adjusted tax rate when you're considering, raising taxes.” Tim Benson, a longtime Amarillo resident, said funding priorities should favor seniors and questioned allocations to a homeless camp, asserting, “We've given 12,000,000 to the homeless camp.” Alan Feingold asked for more information about enterprise funds and asked staff to define the term "enterprise" as it applies to water, sewer and airport operations.

A new dangerous-structure removal team was included in the adopted budget and attracted detailed questions. City staff and the city manager described the program as an in-house capability to remove hazardous residential structures rather than relying on contractors; the city manager estimated the total program cost at about $1.8 million, including equipment, three solid-waste employees and one city marshal employee to manage properties. Staff said the program will be funded by a modest increase in solid-waste fees: single-family residential customers would see roughly a $0.92-per-month increase, and commercial customers would face about a 26.1% increase; staff said solid-waste billing changes would pay for the program rather than property-tax revenues.

Council members stressed trade-offs. One council member framed the choice in service terms: the city could leave condemned structures standing and avoid up-front costs but risk higher firefighting, criminal activity and blight costs over time.

Votes at a glance: - Ordinance No. 82-18 (adopt 2025–26 city budget): motion to adopt recorded and passed, vote 5-0. Motion text (as read at the meeting): "I moved adoption of ordinance number 82 18, adopting the budget for the fiscal year 10/01/2025 through 09/30/2026 for the city of Amarillo." (Record vote requested per state law.) - Ordinance No. 82-19 (set 2025 ad valorem tax rate at 0.4307): motion to adopt recorded and passed, vote 5-0. Motion text (as read): "I move that the property tax rate be increased by the adoption of a tax rate of 0.4307¢, which is effectively a 15.3% increase in the tax rate." (Record vote requested per state law.) - Ratification of budget and tax rate (per Tex. Loc. Gov. Code sec. 102.007(c)): motion to ratify recorded and passed, vote 5-0.

Why it matters: The adopted budget and tax rate fund public-safety pay increases, capital work (streets, water/sewer), and the new dangerous-structure removal program. Staff emphasized the role of grant funding for the largest capital items and repeatedly told residents that appraisal determinations from the Potter-Randall Appraisal District affect individual tax bills independent of the city's rate.

Looking ahead: City staff said the budget and tax-rate ordinances will be in effect for the 2025 tax year and that implementation steps (including the dangerous-structure program rollout and capital project procurement) will proceed under department schedules. Staff also advised residents to consult amarillo.gov for full budget documents and detailed line items.