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City manager outlines budget strains and seeks council direction on possible voter-approved tax increase
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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 rising costs — that are outpacing revenue growth. “If you want to go to 5, that extra 1.5 has to go to the voters in November,” he said, explaining the logistics of preparing parallel budgets and the limited advocacy role staff can play around elections.
Council members pressed for additional facts before committing to a VADER. Several asked staff to produce reconciled year-to-date actuals, a household-level estimate of the proposed increase’s cost, and growth projections reflecting projects currently in the pipeline. One committee member said a midyear budget review that brings precise actuals and forecasts would help the council determine whether increased fees and other savings could close the gap without a vote.
The city manager did not request an immediate vote but recommended staff return to council with: (1) reconciled actuals as of a recent date, (2) growth projections from building safety and appraisal data, and (3) draft parallel budgets showing both the 3.5% fallback and a VADER scenario targeted at public safety. He said the new CFO, Lola Ogan Remy, who is tentatively scheduled to start in April, will lead the budget process and the Workday financial-system closeout that is needed to generate timely actuals.
Council members also discussed trade-offs if a ballot measure lists specific programs for funding and the need for accountability if voters reject an increase. The discussion closed with council direction for staff to return the requested data and for staff to prepare any fee or budget resolution proposals for consideration during the formal budget cycle.
