Amarillo budget workshop weighs street-maintenance fee as public-safety costs rise

The Amarillo City Council and staff continued a multi‑day budget workshop where city leaders discussed moving street maintenance out of the general fund into a self‑supporting enterprise fund funded by a new monthly street‑maintenance fee. City staff said the change is intended to protect ongoing street operations from being cut as competing demands for limited general‑fund dollars grow.

Budget staff member Laura Storrs told the council that the proposed residential target for the new fee would be about $8 per month, with nonresidential rates set by a trip‑generation formula used by other Texas cities. "If we went with the $8 target rate for residential, we would have to see an average across nonresidential of about $75," Storrs said. She described a phased implementation option that would start a lower residential charge (for example $3 per month) and raise it as billing systems and trip calculations are finalized.

Why it matters: Council members and staff said rising public‑safety payroll costs, earlier pay increases and the city’s limited ability to raise taxes have squeezed general‑fund flexibility. City leaders said a dedicated revenue source for streets would keep patching, pothole response and routine street maintenance from being reallocated to other priorities such as police, fire and employee compensation.

Details and tradeoffs

• How the fee would be set: staff described using trip‑generation factors from the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) to assign multipliers to nonresidential properties (grocery, restaurant, office, shopping center) and a flat monthly charge for single‑family homes. Storrs said several Texas…