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Reyes Mata III of El Paso Inc just published an exceptional report documenting the exodus of 8,800 El Paso families to New Mexico between 2019 and 2023.
According to Mata, the City of El Paso lost about 2,000 residents in one year alone, between 2024 and 2025.
Citing reliable sources, he shows that the primary driver of the exodus is El Paso’s high property tax.
According to his research, the effective property tax rate in El Paso ranges between 1.8% and 2.5% of appraised value, which is nearly three times higher than Las Cruces for a home worth $300,000.
We put forth the same argument in 2020 and 2021, and in 2025 we published a video on the topic.
By contrast, Bob Moore of El Paso Matters argues that property taxes “aren’t by themselves a significant driver of migration decisions.” He is dead wrong.
We are surprised to see El Paso Inc, which caters to the local business elite, publish such an honest and, quite frankly, devastating report. Mata’s narrative runs counter to the tax-and-spend agenda of the developers and their bankers and attorneys, who consistently favor deficit-spending and higher taxation.
Obviously, deficit-spending and higher taxation are the chief reason for what Mata calls “The Great El Paso Escape.”
It will be interesting to see the migration figures for 2024-2026, which will likely be even grimmer.
The only solution to this problem is for our local taxing entities to take immediate steps to lower our property tax. Failure to do so will result in further erosion of our tax base and the decline of our local economy.
Unfortunately, both the City and County are planning to increase our property tax very significantly in FY 2027, so we will need to start replacing our local “progressive” politicians with fiscal conservatives. That means supporting Minerva Torres-Shelton for County Judge, Dr. Sam Armijo for City District 1, and other candidates for local office who insist on restraining spending.
PHOTO: From page 1A of the August 9-15 issue of El Paso Inc.
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