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Amarillo staff propose targeted fee increases, realignments to reduce general-fund subsidy
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Summary
City staff presented a department-by-department set of cost-recovery proposals — from shelter and abatement fees to environmental-health and library charges — and will return formal resolutions and projected revenue figures to council during the budget process.
At a March budget workshop, Amarillo staff outlined dozens of targeted fee and revenue adjustments intended to reduce general-fund subsidies across departments and to produce a menu of options for the coming budget cycle.
City Manager summarized the exercise as a search for “what services are providing revenue that is not keeping pace with expense” and presented recommendations ranging from raising animal-shelter daily care and surrender fees to realigning grease-trap revenues into the general fund. For animal management staff recommended increasing the daily shelter-care fee from $5 to $15, restoring ordinance adoption fees (to $50 for canines and $30 for felines) and doubling repeat-impoundment fees to encourage responsible pet ownership. The manager recommended a public rollout strategy and consultation with advisory boards for these changes.
Other department proposals included phasing the abatement administrative fee from $75 to $125 (FY26–27) and $150 (FY27–28) with a 3% annual inflation adjustment; environmental-health options to double certain recreational-water permit fees (from $500 to $1,000) while recommending modest increases for daycare inspections (10–15%) because of state constraints; library updates to default replacement prices and nonresident card fees (proposed $25 individual/$45 family); and incremental, market-aware fee increases for golf and tennis designed to reach neutrality without precipitating a drop in users. Staff also proposed pursuing third-party insurance billing for extraordinary fire incidents, graduated false-alarm fees, expanded transit advertising, and targeted utility fee adjustments (tap administration, industrial-waste sampling) to reduce future rate pressures.
Council members generally signaled support for the staff’s phased, consultative approach. Council direction to staff included: (1) carry the proposals forward as draft resolutions for the next council meeting, (2) run fee concepts past relevant advisory boards, (3) provide projected revenue impacts so council can weigh public reaction against budget needs, and (4) return final figures and recommended ordinances during the formal budget process. The manager said staff will prepare a consolidated budget amendment and present the line-item revenue projections at budget time so council can decide which items to adopt.
