Amarillo City Council advances budget amendments for 2024-25 fiscal year

On Tuesday, the Amarillo City Council approved the first reading of an ordinance adopting budget amendments for the city’s 2024-25 budget, addressing multiple departments that exceeded their originally budgeted expenditures within the General Fund.

The amendments are designed to account for actual funds spent during the fiscal year that surpassed the amounts allocated to specific city departments. City staff presented the adjustments during a recent council meeting, outlining where expenditures exceeded approved budget levels across several areas of city operations.

Among the departments requiring amendments, the Amarillo Police Department reported the largest overage at $2,887,800, attributed to labor costs that exceeded the amount originally budgeted. The Amarillo Fire Department followed with an overage of $1,839,300, also resulting from higher-than-budgeted labor expenses.

Other departments included in the amendment proposal were Capital Projects and Development, which exceeded its budget by $154,600 due to labor costs, and the Library Department, which reported labor-related overages totaling $33,500. Amarillo Transit exceeded its budget by $227,000, also due to labor expenses that surpassed the allocated amount.

The city’s Golf Department reported an overage of $214,800, which officials said was due to spending on supplies used for ground care that exceeded the department’s budgeted amount.

Officials said the purpose of the bookkeeping changes is to clearly state the city’s financial policies in a way that is easier to understand and more consistent in application. The amendments are part of efforts to ensure that financial reporting accurately reflects actual expenditures at the department level.

Councilmember Don Tipps said city leaders have been reviewing financial policies to identify and address unclear or ambiguous language.

“We have all looked at our financial policies to see, you know, there’s ambiguous language in them so we want to just sharpen it up so that it says what it says and means what it says,” Tipps said.

He added that the city is working to resolve inconsistencies when they are identified in financial documentation.

“So we’re just trying to be true to that and where we find any discrepancies we’re just trying to clean it up,” Tipps said.

The ordinance received initial approval from the council, but a second reading is required before it can take effect. According to city officials, once the second reading is completed, the approval will become an attachment to the original 2024-25 budget document.

The Amarillo City Council is scheduled to hold the second reading of the ordinance on June 23 for final consideration. If approved, the budget amendments will be formally attached to the city’s original 2024-25 budget.