Amarillo council approves debt issuance to fund $12M maintenance program, $16M Osage reconstruction

The Amarillo City Council voted to authorize the issuance of certificates to fund a multi-year street maintenance program, including a $16,000,000 full-depth reconstruction of Osage Street between 34th and 58th and a $12,000,000 summer maintenance package.

Donnie Hooper, who led the presentation for Public Works, told the council the package is part of a 10‑year strategic plan to issue debt annually for street maintenance and reconstruction. "This shared investment gives both parties confidence to invest in infrastructure and the programs and the people," Hooper said, summarizing the program and listing the three treatments—mill and overlay, cape seal and microsurfacing—that will be used across roughly 30 mill/overlay blocks, 69 cape‑seal blocks and 5 residential areas for microsurfacing.

Steven Adams, the city’s financial advisor with Specialized Public Finance, reported the city sold $29,170,000 worth of certificates at a winning bid yielding 3.43 percent and noted the sale produced a roughly $1.4 million reduction in total debt service compared with earlier estimates. "We sold at a 3.43 interest rate," Adams said. He explained the debt structure includes a 20‑year issuance aligned to the Osage project and 10‑year debt for the other maintenance projects so payments match the useful life of the work.

Councilmembers asked for clarity about the timing of principal and interest payments, use of the I&S (interest and sinking) fund balance to blunt rate impacts, and how much borrowing capacity the city retains. Adams and staff explained the first principal payment was deferred one year (principal begins in 2028) to lessen an interim increase in 2027 and that the council could use existing I&S cash to avoid increasing the I&S rate. The advisor also estimated that each $1 million of I&S capacity translates to roughly $12–13 million in borrowing capacity.

After questions and discussion, Councilmember (place label) moved to adopt ordinance 8236 as presented; the motion was seconded and carried with council voice vote. The city manager and staff said designs and bid packets would proceed so selected projects could be advertised in time for spring bidding and summer construction.

What’s next: Closing on the certificates was scheduled for April 9; staff will bring further budget-year debt‑service impacts to the summer budget process, including whether to apply restricted I&S cash to minimize rate changes.