The Amarillo City Council on Tuesday removed a proposed $30.3 million borrowing measure from its agenda, delaying consideration of several major infrastructure projects.
The item, listed as Item 7.3—consideration of Ordinance No. 8236—would have authorized the issuance of $30,310,000 in certificates of obligation (COs) to fund street resurfacing, reconstruction, and construction projects across the city. Before the public comment portion of the meeting, Mayor Cole Stanley announced that the item had been withdrawn and tabled.
Certificates of obligation are a type of municipal debt that allows cities to fund public works projects without voter approval. Repayment is incorporated into future city budgets and can potentially affect property tax rates.
Mayor Stanley said the postponement was tied to financial review and project timing, not the cancellation of planned improvements.
“We’re planning ahead for 2027,” Stanley said. “We want to make sure we’ve maximized everything that we have in current capital before borrowing the money.”
The city is currently undergoing its annual audit, and officials are evaluating whether existing capital funds could cover portions of the proposed projects. Stanley also said the city is refining project estimates and does not anticipate needing to take action on the borrowing until budget discussions next summer.
“We want to make sure we’ve maximized everything that we have in current capital. The other reason is, we’re still gathering up numbers and getting in some preliminary estimates on what those projects could be and what they’re going to cost. And the last reason that we’re pushing it is we really don’t need it until we consider budget this next summer,” Stanley said.
Stanley did not provide a specific timeline for when the certificates of obligation item would return to the council agenda.
Councilmember Don Tipps said the city’s AAA bond rating positions Amarillo to borrow at favorable interest rates when needed.
“The city of Amarillo has a AAA bond rating, where it will borrow money at a very low rate,” Tipps said. “We can exercise that, get some things done that we need to get done, and we have the revenue to make that payment.”
Tipps said the proposed borrowing would fund street reconstruction, drainage upgrades, bridge improvements, and utility system enhancements—projects the city does not have sufficient cash reserves to pay for outright.
“We don’t have the cash built into the budget,” Tipps said. “We don’t have a savings account that we can just go pay cash for those items.”
Councilmember Les Simpson said the city is confronting the effects of what he described as decades of deferred maintenance. He noted that choosing to hold taxes and fees flat can carry long-term consequences for infrastructure.
“And it has consequences. What are the consequences? We have flooding in Paramount when that problem should have been taken care of before that. We have streets that need to be maintained. Even in the last days – we deferred, and we deferred pool maintenance. And what have we got? We got pools that have all kinds of issues or problems because we never went to the maintenance,” Simpson said. “So the question is – and listen, I hear when people say, ‘Boy, we don’t want to raise taxes and fees.’ I don’t want to either. We all pay them. So the question is, as a council, what are we going to do about it? Are we going to continue to hold back? In the last couple of years, we’ve issued debt to be able to do those things, but we’re really here because of decades of deferred maintenance.”
City Manager Grayson Path said that of the $30.3 million proposed issuance, $2 million designated for park improvements would come from existing assessments within the Colonies Public Improvement District (PID). An additional $12 million would support the next summer streets maintenance program.
Although the larger borrowing item was tabled, the council approved two other debt issuances during the meeting. These included $4.7 million for fire apparatus and $6 million for waterworks and sewer system extensions. According to the meeting agenda, the $6 million water and sewer bonds will be repaid using revenue from a new tier of commercial water and sewer rates approved in 2024. Funding for the fire apparatus bond will be addressed during upcoming budget discussions.
City officials have described certificates of obligation as a flexible financial tool that can support infrastructure improvements when incorporated into long-term financial planning. The council’s decision to delay consideration reflects what members characterized as a cautious approach to large-scale borrowing while the city completes its audit and refines project cost estimates.
Amarillo continues to face demands for road repairs, drainage improvements, and utility upgrades. In recent years, city leadership has used a combination of budget allocations, grants, and debt instruments to address infrastructure needs.
For now, the proposed $30.3 million borrowing remains under review. City leaders say the projects themselves are not canceled, but additional time is needed to evaluate available funding sources and determine the most appropriate timing for issuance.
