Amarillo City Council will hold a public hearing on its budget for the 2023/2024 budget during their regular meeting on Tuesday.

The hearing follows several rounds of budget workshops, where the council met to discuss an initial budget proposal created by staff. A new proposed budget, which contains several changes from the original proposal, has since been released.

The new version of the budget contains larger increases to the drainage fee than the original proposal. The original budget proposal included an increase of $0.11 to small residential properties and $0.17 for commercial properties. The new version of the budget includes increases of $1.08 to $2.39 for residential properties and $1.58 for commercial properties. According to the proposed budget, this will fund drainage utility capital needs and increased operation costs.

Several changes to proposed fee increases for solid waste collection have also been made. Residential solid waste collection fees were originally set to be increased by 14.53% while commercial customers were set to see an increase of 5%. Under the new proposal, residential customers are set to see an 8% increase while commercial customers are set to see a 20% increase. According to the proposed budget, these increases will fund increases in operation costs and a residential dumpster replacement program.

There will also be increased landfill charges, environmental health permits, golf fees, tennis fees, pool admission, zoo admission, athletic rentals, mowing services, sewer charges, and water metered sales.

Many city departments are set to see a larger budget increase than originally proposed. Police were originally set to receive a budget of $58,075,784, up from the $56,339,327 they are expected to spend in the current fiscal year. (Editor’s note: In this article, all mentions of spending increases or cuts are in comparison to the amount the department expects to spend in the current fiscal year, not what they had budgeted.) Under the new proposal, their budget will see a further increase to $58,838,501.

Drainage utility is set to have a much larger budget increase than initially proposed. The department was originally set to have a budget of $5,372,975, up just slightly from the $5,135,832 they are expected to spend in the current fiscal year. The new proposal includes nearly $2 million more for the department, with a proposed budget of $7,001,905.

Some other departments expected to see larger budget increases than originally planned include Streets, Fleet Services, Animal Management & Welfare, the Emergency Communications Center, and most Parks & Recreation departments. The Parks & Recreation Parks Maintenance department was originally set to have a slight cut from what they are set to spend this year, but this has been slightly revised to see a slight increase.

The Emergency Management and Vital Statistics departments are both set to see budget increases, but those increases are now slightly smaller than what was originally planned. No changes have been made to the proposed budget increases for the Mayor and Council or Community Development.

Several departments are set to receive cuts. The City Attorney, City Secretary, Risk Management, Parks & Recreation Zoo, Traffic, Water Distribution, Solid Waste Collection, and Public Health are all set to see smaller cuts than what was originally proposed. The City Manager's budget, on the other hand, is now set for a larger cut than what was originally proposed. The Building Safety Department was originally set to have an increase but is now set for a cut. No changes have been made to the original proposed cut to the city’s Public Improvement Districts.

The tax rate included with the budget is one proposed by the council at their most recent regular meeting. That rate, $0.39876, is slightly lower than the current rate of $0.40628, but is also the highest allowed by state law without calling an election. The council may choose a rate slightly lower than that during the meeting, as they are also set to have a first vote on setting the rate.

The public hearing will take place during the regular meeting of Amarillo City Council scheduled for Tuesday, September 12th, at 3:00 p.m. on the 3rd floor of City Hall. The full agenda and agenda packet for the meeting can be found at this link. The full proposed budget can be found at this link. Following the public hearing, the council will take a first vote on the budget and a first vote on the tax rate. A special meeting is set for the following week and will likely involve holding final votes on the budget and tax rate.