The City of Amarillo owes $538.3 million: what's behind the number

The City of Amarillo owes $538.3 million. That's $2,642 for every resident, up from $198.5 million ten years ago.

Most people never see this number, so here's what's behind it, straight from the City's own debt schedule and audited report:

• $190.4 million in interest is still to be paid on top of the principal. The last payment is scheduled for 2054.
• Voters approved $89.8 million of it, in the November 2016 bond election. The council approved $96.2 million in tax-backed debt with no election: certificates of obligation and tax notes. The rest is refinancing and revenue bonds repaid from water, sewer, drainage and hotel taxes.
• $131.9 million of borrowed money hadn't been spent yet as of Sept. 30, 2025, including $15.6 million of the 2020 smart-meter bonds.
• This year's payments on debt already owed: $58.6 million. $26.9 million of it comes out of water and sewer revenue, which is part of why your rates keep climbing.
• Since the audit closed, the City has borrowed $46.9 million more.

Over the next few weeks we'll take these one at a time: who approved the debt, what's sitting unspent, what's due, and the pension promises that don't show up as debt at all.

Every bond, every figure, every source: amarilloledger.com/debt