El Paso Matters – Voters approved UMC El Paso, county bonds in November. The tax increases kick in this year.

El Paso voters in November approved multimillion-dollar bonds for the county and hospital district that would lead to increased taxes to fund projects from Ascarate Park upgrades to new health clinics. 

Now, property owners will see their county and University Medical Center of El Paso tax bills increase this fall to start paying off that approved debt. 

For UMC, that amounts to about $72 more a year on an average-value home. 

“All this increase is all strictly due to the interest and debt service component increasing, which came from the voter approved debt back in November 2024,” UMC Chief Financial Officer Michael Nuñez told El Paso Matters on Monday. 

UMC had estimated homeowners would see an increase of about $90 on the hospital’s portion of their tax bill, but Nuñez said the hospital earlier this year issued only a portion of the bond.

UMC will present its proposed tax rate of 24 cents per $100 property valuation, as well as its proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year, to El Paso County Commissioners Court during a joint workshop Tuesday. Under the proposed rate, the owner of an average-value $221,726 home will pay $534 in hospital taxes – an increase of about $72 over the previous year. 

The hospital district is proposing a fiscal year 2026 expense budget of $1.9 billion – about $200 million more than the current year in large part to pay for new and expanding facilities and about 140 additional full-time employees to staff them.

Property taxes account for about 10% of the revenue collected by the hospital district, which includes UMC, El Paso First Health Plans and Children’s Hospital, among others.

That means that only about $175 million in taxpayer dollars would go toward the hospital district’s proposed budget. Patient service fees make up about 46% of its revenues – about $874 million of its projected 2026 revenues.

Commissioners Court play an oversight role of county hospital districts, including approval of their budgets and tax rates.

Property taxes are based on your home valuation as assessed by the El Paso Central Appraisal District, homestead and other exemptions you claim, and tax rates adopted by the taxing entities, including the city, county, school districts, hospital districts and community colleges.

The county on Monday introduced its proposed tax rate of 48.7 cents per $100 of property valuation, which if adopted by the Commissioners Court later this month would result in a $181 increase on an average $221,726 value home. The rate, known as the voter-approval tax rate, is the highest a taxing entity can adopt without triggering an election.

“What we’re doing is to set (the voter-approval rate) as a ceiling to work off of when it comes to actually adopting the tax rate,” County Commissioner David Stout said. “So we’re not setting the tax rate today, we’re proposing the ceiling, and then we’ll work work down from there.”

By practice, the county introduces the voter-approval rate – the highest it can adopt by law after approving the ordinance and publishing that rate in a public notice on its website and some local newspapers. However, the county will generally adopt a lower rate than what it introduces.

Commissioners were divided on what rate to introduce, with Iliana Holguin saying she didn’t believe the community would respond well to the voter-approval rate even if the court were to adopt something lower later. Commissioner Stout, along with Sergio Coronado, argued that introducing the highest rate gave them the most flexibility while the county works to finalize its budget and figure out what rate is needed to support it.

County Administrator Betsy Keller backed the recommendation, saying “it does not obligate the court to adopt that rate, it just gives the court the ability to adopt a rate up to that without … having to go to voters.”

The court voted 4-1 to introduce the voter-approval rate, with Holguin voting against it.

If the court were to adopt its no-new-revenue rate of 41 cents, that would translate to an increase of about $11 over last year’s average-value home.

The bond propositions approved by voters would be responsible for about $34 in increased taxes on the average-value home, based on estimates the county provided during the election.

The revenue generated from property taxes – the county’s main source of revenue – will help fund the county’s preliminary general fund budget of $469 million – about $2 million more than the current year, according to documents presented to commissioners in July. The county will introduce its proposed budget Aug. 11.

UMC bond, tax rate and budget

In November, voters approved a $396.6 million UMC bond for more than 20 projects, including $207.6 million for health care services and clinics throughout the county, $134.5 million for surgical suites, observation beds and other upgrades to the main hospital, as well as $24.5 million for a burn center and critical care beds, and $30 million toward the planned cancer center in partnership with Texas Tech Health El Paso.

The hospital issued $275 million of that in June, with the remaining $122 million to be issued in fall 2027 or spring 2028, Nuñez said.

UMC’s projected expenses for fiscal year 2026 are at about $1.9 billion – about $8 million more than its projected revenues.

“It is a deficit, but what I think is key here is that you got a $1.9 billion budget and $8 million is about 4,000th of a percent. So, to you and me and our daily budget at home, this seems like an amazing amount of money. But in the scope of the size of the organization, this is how we budget, and ideally, we find a way to pick it up during the year,” said Jon Law, UMC’s chief strategy officer.

County bonds, debt

Voters approved three county bond proposals totaling about $155 million in November for park improvements, a new medical examiner’s office and the county’s first animal shelter. At the time, the county estimated that would translate to a $29 increase in annual county property taxes on a $200,000 home.

The county issued $54 million in certificates of obligation bonds – debt that doesn’t require voter approval – for infrastructure such as flood control, street improvements and first-time water and wastewater services. That issuance is not expected to increase the debt service portion of the county’s tax rate as it replaces existing debt that has been paid off.

City of El Paso proposed tax rate, budget

The El Paso City Council last week introduced the ordinance to levy a tax rate of 75.9 cents per $100 of property valuation, which will result in an increase of about $83 a year on the city’s portion of the tax bill on an average-value home of $221,191.

READ ALSO: Poop or puke in a city pool? El Paso city leaders float issuing fines to clean up the mess

Under the proposed rate, the city would collect about $305 million in property taxes – about $28 million more than the current fiscal year. That revenue will help fund the city’s estimated $625.7 million general fund budget for the next fiscal year, with much of the remainder coming from other sources such as sales taxes, fines and fees.

The post Voters approved UMC El Paso, county bonds in November. The tax increases kick in this year. appeared first on El Paso Matters.

 Read: Read More