Amarillo Economic Development Corporation meets after city council budget direction

AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) – The Amarillo Economic Development Corporation is expected to hold a meeting on Monday morning on policies and economic development, as well as how to approach recent budget guidance from the Amarillo City Council.

The AEDC is set to meet on Monday at 11 a.m. on the ninth floor of the First Bank Southwest Tower, according to its published agenda. The meeting is expected to be open to the public and public comments as provided by the agenda and permitted by the presiding officer.

During the meeting, the AEDC noted that its board may discuss topics such as incentives, AEDC bylaws and articles of incorporation, development, infrastructure, land acquisition and “other matters related to the desired direction and plans for economic development as well as general issues and matters related to the current and future needs and expectation for the AEDC.”

This meeting is set to come after a special meeting by the Amarillo City Council, during which its present members (Mayor Cole Stanley and Councilmembers Place 1 Josh Craft, Place 2 Don Tipps and Place 3 Tom Scherlen) directed the council’s special counsel, George Hyde of Hyde Kelley LLP, to draft articles of incorporation for the AEDC.

During the special meeting, Stanley noted that the direction to the Hyde Kelley firm was to amend the articles of incorporation “in order to be more consistent with state law,” not to amend bylaws or collaborate with the AEDC board.

As previously reported on MyHighPlains.com, the AEDC has been under investigation by the city council over a 2023 wire transfer of $750,000 to The Range for a three-year membership. AEDC officials said that the money used was a combination of funds already allocated to membership payments as well as leftover funds from marketing and project support expenditures.

While an internal city audit of the AEDC’s budget over the past three years revealed no inconsistencies with how it has operated, and city officials confirmed that the wire transfer was not illegal, Amarillo City Council members have continued to discuss the AEDC’s budget for the next fiscal year and whether it should have new stipulations.

The full meeting agenda can be viewed below.

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