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City manager outlines budget strains and seeks council direction on possible voter-approved tax increase
Summary
City Manager presented Amarillo’s budget constraints under Texas’s truth-in-taxation rules and asked council whether to pursue a November voter-approved tax-rate increase (VADER) focused on public safety; council asked staff for reconciled actuals, household cost estimates and growth projections before deciding.
City Manager presented a multi-year budget outlook at a March workshop and urged council to give staff specific direction on whether to pursue a voter-approved tax-rate election to raise revenue above Texas’s 3.5% maintenance-and-operations cap.
The manager said under SB 2 (2019) the M&O rate is capped at 3.5% and any increase above that must be approved by voters. He told council a 3.5% change last year produced roughly $2 million and that the city faces persistent cost pressures — police overtime, IT renewals and other…
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