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Yesterday our City Council held a Special Meeting and under agenda item 3 voted 8-0 to introduce an ordinance setting the tax rate at $0.759649 per $100 of property valuation.
The state set the no-new-revenue tax rate at $0.728317, so any amount above that figure is a tax increase. The City’s proposed rate is 3.1 cents above $0.728317 and only 6 tenths of a penny below the voter approval rate of $0.765942, representing an increase of 4.30%.
For an average-priced home of $221,191, the increase will be $83 per year for a total City assessment of $1,680.
Mathematically, most El Paso property owners will see an increase in their tax–not some, as so many journalists in our local media keep repeating.
The final vote to adopt the budget will be August 19, only 12 days before the end of FY 2025.
MAYOR BREAKS HIS PRIMARY CAMPAIGN PROMISE
ThE 4.30% tax increase means that Mayor Renard Johnson, who campaigned on a promise to lower our property tax, has broken his word very clearly and very publicly.
The Mayor, City Manager Mack, and CFO Robert Cortinas are all pushing the dishonest narrative that the City will adopt the lowest tax rate in a decade, as if that matters in the slightest.
The reason the tax rate has dropped so low is because our property valuations have risen so high, by $2.98 billion or 5.63% since last year.
The average taxable value of a single-family home rose from $209,718 in FY 2025 to $221,191 in FY 2026, a 5.5% increase.
As a result, the City must lower the tax rate to compensate for the rise in valuations, like all Texas cities.
Real estate is an asset that varies in value with consumer demand and market conditions. The City of El Paso can take no more credit for lowering the tax rate than they can for the recent drop in the cost of eggs!
Rather than owning up to his broken promise, the Mayor made a cute speech commending City staff on achieving the lowest tax rate in a decade, as if we are too stupid to tell the difference between the tax rate and effective tax assessment.
We are especially disappointed with Cortinas, who is usually the voice of reason. He not only pushed the City’s false narrative but referred to the tax increase as “tax relief.” We have it on tape.
Acevedo, who is a financial dunce, went so far as to gloat, “We are lowering taxes this year… This is a really, really big deal.” When he finally understood that taxes are actually going up, he blamed the Central Appraisal District and suggested that the frequency of tax assessments should be reformed.
We wish we could give him a pill to make him smarter.
BUDGET TAKES $3.25 MILLION FROM FUND BALANCE, NO INCREASE IN FUNDING FOR STREETS
The proposed FY 2026 budget is $624.4 million, which is $24.8 million more than FY 2025, a variance of $24.8 million or 4.1%.
It maintains funding for streets at a meager $10 million and provides an additional $750K to fill job vacancies and $500K for facilities improvements, which are tiny sums with respect to the need.
In order to balance the budget, $3.25 million will be drawn from the unrestricted fund balance, often called the rainy-day fund. This will happen unless the City can find additional savings during FY 2026 or procure additional revenue. No dollars were drawn from the fund balance during the previous two fiscal years.
MEAGER PROPERTY TAX RELIEF FOR SENIORS AND THE DISABLED
The CFO did his best to evade discussion of the tax increase, talking instead about the lower tax rate, the decline in outstanding debt principal, the decrease in the debt service rate, and “property tax relief” for seniors and the disabled.
Rep. Fierro got very excited about the paltry handout to seniors and the disabled, amounting to an additional $1.59/month in tax savings during FY 2026. He said he can’t wait to retire so that he can receive the windfall.
Hey, Art, we’ll buy you a couple frappuccinos at Starbucks so that you can have an entire year of your FY 2026 retirement benefit early!
REP LIMÓN PUSHES BACK
Rep. Lily Limón was the only member of City Council to call out the bullshit. She pressed the CFO with her question, “Is it correct to say we have lowered taxes?” His response was that he would tell her later in the presentation.
She pressed Cortinas again at the 1:52 mark and forced him to admit there will be a tax increase “on the average tax bill,” but then she went ahead and voted for the budget ordinance! We have no idea why.
LIPSTICK ON A PIG
Rather than identifying new cost-saving measures to get us to the no-new revenue-tax rate, our City is raising our taxes and calling it “tax relief”!
We have never seen so much lipstick on a pig!
The recent 15.2% average salary increase for the 37 deputy city managers and department heads was a major read flag. The City’s financial support for the Debt Plaza was a much bigger one. Why doesn’t the City eliminate the wasteful Public Art Program or reign in some of the useless “business” trips by City reps and staff. Why don’t they conduct a full structural audit of all departments, especially Sun Metro?
It is evident to us that the only reason this budget takes only $3.25 million from the fund balance is because at least $30 million of it will be diverted to the Debt Plaza so that Foster, Hunt and their friends can be happy.
MEDIA COVERAGE
We are always interested in how our media report on important fiscal issues.
We must compliment El Paso Matters on their coverage of the tax increase. The headline of their staff report says it all: “El Paso homeowners face city property tax hike; Leaders paint unclear picture.” The first sentence reads: “The El Paso City Council has 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.” The city in a news release following the Thursday meeting misrepresented the tax rate it’s proposing – calling it the lowest in history but not stating that the rate will effectively be raised.” (Please note that El Paso Matters misreported the tax increase as 7.29% rather than 4.30% because they relied upon the ordinance language rather than a simple calcuation)
As always, Adam Powell of the El Paso Times got it right. According to him, the City approved a budget that “leaves the current property tax rate unchanged but will result in El Pasoans paying higher property tax bills because their home values increased.” The Mayor told him on the record “One of the most important outcomes of this process was preserving the property tax rate.” He truly must believe we are as dumb as bricks. Powell points out that the $10 million allocated for street maintenance “is about $30 million short of what’s needed each year to address the city’s aging and crumbling roadways.”
Heriberto Perez of KVIA wrote that “lowering the tax rate doesn’t mean El Pasoans will pay less in taxes, because property taxes have continued to rise.” We are pretty sure he meant “property valuations,” not “property taxes.” While his sentence is otherwise correct, he is not as clear and emphatic as El Paso Matters and the El Paso Times.
Jesus Balthazar of KTSM opened with the City’s propaganda: “The City of El Paso is now proposing to reduce its property tax rate for fiscal year 2026 […] the lowest rate in a decade” blah blah blah. “During the presentation however, Cortinas noted that despite the reduced tax rate, some residents in El Paso will see an increase to their property tax bill due to rising home values made by CAD.” It is not some, it is most. Please do not parrot City talking points, Do your homework!
Harrison Parker of KFOX14 opened in similar fashion: “El Paso city leaders have proposed reducing the city’s property tax rate to its lowest level in a decade. The proposed rate would decrease from 76.5 cents to 75.9 cents per $100 of valuation.” But then he adds, “However, with property values rising over 5 percent, residents are likely to see a higher tax bill despite the lower rate.”
Both Balthazar and Harrison drew too much from the City’s dishonest press release: “The City of El Paso is proposing to reduce its property tax rate for Fiscal Year 2026 to $0.759649 per $100 of valuation, the lowest rate in a decade. However, due to rising home values, some residents may still see an increase in their annual property tax bill.” Again, most residents will see an increase.
We hope the television media will stop uncritically incorporating language from City press releases in their reports.
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