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Amarillo council adopts budget amendments after audit review; $13.5M excess rolled to reserves
Summary
Council adopted Ordinance 8241 to amend the city’s 2024–25 general fund, following an audit update. Staff said general fund revenues exceeded budget by $14.3 million; proposed amendments total $5.4 million and council discussed rolling $13.5 million net excess into one‑time CIP funding after reserve rebalancing.
The Amarillo City Council adopted Ordinance 8241 Thursday on a motion and voice vote to approve budget amendments to the city’s 2024–25 legally adopted budget, Katrina Owens, interim chief financial officer, told the council.
Owens said the general fund’s revenues exceeded budget by about $14.3 million for the year and presented proposed amendments totaling roughly $5.4 million to reconcile departmental overages. She listed department-level requests including $241,000 for police, about $3.7 million driven primarily by overtime in fire, and additional sums for parks, golf, zoo, pools and several PIDs. Owens said some funds (for example bonded debt service) will be reimbursed by water and sewer revenues.
Council members probed how the amendments would affect reserves and recurring spending. Owens and City Manager staff said the net excess — approximately $13.5 million after amendments — would roll to fund balance and be available for one‑time capital improvements (CIP) after the budget rebalancing process. Council discussed the need for better midyear actuals and forecasting, noting the city’s ongoing software transition limited real‑time departmental visibility this fiscal year.
Several council members asked whether departments that came in under budget could be shown in a future report; Owens agreed to provide detail on departments that were under budget. Council members also asked about controls to prevent recurring overruns and whether the reserve policy change for 2025–26 alters the treatment of excess funds; staff said the new reserve policy will be factored into the upcoming budget process.
After discussion, Council member (S10) moved and the council adopted Ordinance 8241 on a voice vote. Owens said the audited comprehensive financial report draft will be delivered to the council on Friday for filing and final action to follow.
The ordinance was presented as the first and final reading was scheduled at the next meeting for additional items where required; the transcript records the motion and an oral aye vote with no roll call tally in the public record.
Next steps included staff providing departments’ under/over budget detail and delivering the draft annual comprehensive financial report to the council on Friday for review.
