AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) – The Amarillo City Council approved nearly $11 million in debt Tuesday for a firetruck and water and sewer projects but tabled a $30 million certificate of obligation.
Firetruck funding details
The council approved nearly $5 million in debt for a firetruck during Tuesday’s meeting. The firetruck funding will come from a debt issuance and be paid back from property taxes beginning with the 2026 assessment.
This will be discussed as part of the fiscal year 2026-27 budget process this summer.
“There’s many things, the fire apparatus, the cost of asphalt things like that. There is a huge benefit to locking those costs in now where we don’t have the funds, right we don’t have the tax dollars to just go out and pay cash for those but we’ve got that CO much like the use of a credit card and say hey, let’s get it now but we do have the revenue to make that payment,” said Don Tipps, council member for the City of Amarillo.
Water and sewer bond approved
The council approved around $6 million for a water and sewer bond. This was approved as a new, higher billing tier for commercial water and sewer rates in 2024 which has already been implemented in water bills and will not be increased due to this approval…