This is your weekly news roundup, which takes a quick look at some developments in government, politics, education, environment and other topics across El Paso.
El Paso Electric Customers in Texas to Receive Credit
El Paso Electric will refund its Texas customers about $25 on average throughout the next three months, which will lower monthly bills by about 7.5% from September through November.
The utility predicts how much power it has to generate to supply customers months or years ahead of time, and also how much fuel it has to buy – such as natural gas or nuclear power plant fuel – to generate the electricity the utility thinks it will need.
After that process, El Paso Electric reconciles the amount it expected to spend on fuel with how much it actually spent, and issues a refund or surcharge to customers. Earlier this year, the utility issued a refund for April through June worth about $40.
El Paso Electric over-collected its fuel revenue in recent months because it made “significant off-system sales margins,” meaning it profitably sold and exported a lot of electricity to other utilities or merchant power traders, according to regulatory filings.
El Paso Electric in 2023 joined the so-called Western Energy Imbalance Market, which allows utilities to trade power with each other on a more short-term, minute-by-minute basis. El Paso Electric credits all of the profit margin it makes from selling into the imbalance market to customers, which offsets the fuel charge on ratepayers’ bills.
Residential bills for the utility’s Texas customers will be about $120 in September and October on average, compared with $129 without the refund. In November, household bills will be just over $66 on average, a decline from an average bill of almost $72.
EPISD Approves Tax Rate, Homeowners to See Reduction in Tax Bill
Homeowners within El Paso Independent School District boundaries will likely see a decrease in the district’s portion of their 2025 tax bill if Texas voters approve a constitutional amendment in November to raise the homestead exemption.
EPISD trustees voted 5-1 Wednesday to adopt a tax rate for the 2025 tax year of $1.08 per $100 valuation.
Trustee Valerie Beals voted against the tax rate and Trustee Daniel Call was absent from the meeting.
If Texas voters approve the amendment, homeowners in the district will see a $434 reduction per year on the school portion of their property tax bills on the average valued-home of $258,400.
The district’s adopted tax rate is about 13 cents higher than its no-new-revenue rate of 95 cents per $100 valuation, meaning it will collect more money in property taxes compared with the previous year.
The adopted tax rate is also below the voter-approval rate of $1.09 per $100 valuation, the highest tax rate possible without triggering an election.
The proposed state amendment would increase the homestead exemption for school taxes from $100,000 to $140,000 and increase the exemption for seniors older than 65 and individuals with disabilities from $10,000 to $60,000.
SISD Board Approves Vasquez’s Superintendent Contract After Waiver
James Vasquez was named the Socorro Independent School District’s permanent superintendent after the state approved a waiver allowing him to serve without the required certification.
Trustees voted unanimously after a closed-door meeting Wednesday to approve his contract, but did not disclose its term or the superintendent’s salary.
SISD attorney Steve Blanco said the contract still needs to be finalized and signed by the board before it can be made public.
As interim superintendent, Vasquez was paid an annual salary of $230,000, including a $199 daily stipend, on top of his regular daily pay rate as deputy superintendent overseeing district operations.
Vasquez served as interim superintendent since April 2024 after former Superintendent Nate Carman was placed on paid administrative leave following an audit that found he awarded contracts to a company with which he had previously done business.
Regents Authorize UTEP to Raise Student Union Fees Under 2024 Referendum
Students at the University of Texas at El Paso will see their union fees increase incrementally during the next three academic years after the University of Texas System Board of Regents authorized the increase as approved by student voters last fall.
The board’s decision was part of its quarterly meeting conducted Aug. 20-21 in Austin. It was the last step after the student referendum in September 2024 followed by the authorization during the 89th Texas legislative session earlier this year.
UTEP students narrowly approved the 400% increase to their union fee to pay for the demolition and reconstruction of Union West, and to refurbish parts of Union East. Only 9% of UTEP’s 25,039 registered students participated in the election. The final tally was 1,171 (51.6%) for the fee increase and 1,098 (48.4%) against it.
Beginning in spring 2026, students will pay $70 for a regular semester. The fee will increase to $120 per semester and then $150 over the next two academic years. Students who enroll during summer sessions will pay half that amount. The student union fee had been $30 since its inception in 1987. According to an inflation calculator, $30 in 1987 is equal to about $86 today.
All collected funds will be used to finance, construct, operate, maintain and improve the Student Union complex.
A UTEP spokeswoman said that the institution does not have cost estimates or timelines to tear down and rebuild Union West or to renovate parts of Union East.
The university has favored the demolition of Union West, parts of which opened in 1949, because it is run down and would cost more to repair than to rebuild. Some historians have lamented the possible loss of a building due to its architectural and cultural significance.
El Paso County Raises Tax Rate Amid Financial Constraints
The El Paso County Commissioners Court on Monday adopted its tax rate for the next fiscal year – which translates to an increase of about $138 per year on an average $216,726 value home.
The tax rate of 45.8 cents per $100 of property valuation will fund next year’s budget of about $608 million – including about $467 million for the general fund that pays for basic services and is largely supported by property taxes.
The County Commissioners voted 4-1 to adopt the tax rate. County Commissioner Illiana Holguin voted against the tax rate.
“We have other tools at our disposal (other than raising the tax rate). Before asking taxpayers to shoulder more, we should be looking at where we can reduce costs and make programs more efficient, especially in areas that are not mandated by law. And we should be willing to use our reserves responsibly — this is exactly the kind of situation they exist for,” Holguin said, in part, in a news release.
The tax increase is necessary because of a possible $20 million increase in unfunded mandates imposed by the state Legislature, said County Commissioner David Stout, who voted in favor of the increase, in a news release about the need for the tax increase. About 54% of the county budget goes toward unfunded state mandates, according to county budget presentations.
The portion of the tax rate increase is due to the bonds approved by voters in November. About $12 million of the $151 million in approved general obligation bonds has been issued, and the county is already making payments on the debt.
County civilian employees and the Commissioners Court will not receive pay raises next year, as part of continuing budget constraints. The budget will fund basic county services including parks, county transit, libraries, and animal services. Each department was asked to reduce its operating budget for the next fiscal year by 5%.
County Commissioners are finalizing the budget that will be adopted Sept. 15. A public hearing will be held before the vote.
Texas Tech Regents Amend El Paso Campus Re-Accreditation Consultant Contract
The Texas Tech University System Board of Trustees recently approved a request by TTHEP to amend the contract for Mahoney Education Consultants, LLC, to help with its upcoming medical school re-accreditation appointment later this year.
The trustees voted 9-0 to increase an existing contract from $99,600 to almost $118,000 for Mahoney to provide its expertise with the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine during the 2025 Liaison Committee on Medical Education Re-Accreditation site visit. Mahoney is based in Wexford, Pennsylvania.
The board made its decision as part of a consent agenda during its quarterly meeting Aug. 15-16 in Lubbock.
Dr. Richard Lange, president of Texas Tech Health El Paso and dean of the Foster School of Medicine, approved this request to augment the consultation contract the regents accepted as an informational agenda item during a November 2024 board meeting. The additional funds will go toward Mahoney’s help to prepare a re-accreditation submission.
Lange has served as president and dean since the Texas Tech University System hired him in 2014. TTHEP announced last June that Dr. Eric M. Rohren, a professor and chair of the Department of Radiology at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, will take over as dean in October. Lange will continue as the campus’ leader.
The Texas Legislature established the Foster School of Medicine in 2007. Its first class started two years later. The school earned its first accreditation in 2008 and earned a full certification five years later. Its latest accreditation is good through the 2025-26 academic year.
The school enrolled 470 students in fall 2024, according to the TTHEP fact book. From 2012-25, the school graduated 1,103 students.
The post El Paso Electric to issue refunds, EPISD OKs tax rate, UTEP hikes fees appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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