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ChatGPTClaudePerplexitySummary City debt · Part 2
Who approved Amarillo's debt
Amarillo Ledger ·
A plain-language summary of records on this site. Every figure is on the linked pages, with its source.
Who approved Amarillo's debt? Less and less of it was you.
Every voter-approved bond the City still owes traces back to one election: November 2016, when voters said yes to $89.5 million for streets and $20.1 million for public safety. As those bonds are paid down, voters' share of the City's debt has fallen from 21% in 2022 to 17% in 2025.
Meanwhile, certificates of obligation nearly doubled, from $35.8 million to $68.0 million in three years. COs are backed by property taxes just like voter-approved bonds, but they don't go on a ballot. The council publishes a notice, and the only way voters get a say is if 5% of qualified voters sign a petition in time. Add $28.1 million in tax notes and contractual obligations adopted by ordinance, and the council has approved $96.2 million in tax-backed debt without an election. That's more than the $89.8 million voters approved.
When a CO is on a council agenda, that notice is your window.
The full breakdown, bond by bond: amarilloledger.com/debt
