No one has ever bothered to calculate the total principle and interest owed by the taxing entities within El Paso County, so we analyzed the statistics on public debt published by the Texas Bond Review Board and found that in 2023 our local taxing entities, including all nine school districts, owe $6,657,902,167 in principle and $3,646,357,506 in pending interest for a total of $10,304,259,673.
Considering that El Paso County has an estimated population of 869,880 as of July 2023, that amounts to $11,846 for every man, woman, and child.
The City, including water and sewage, accounts for $3,109,787,000 (46.7%) of the total principle owed though it accounts for only 29% of our total property tax.
The debt principle of all nine school districts amounts to $2,814,940,887 (42.3%) of the total owed.
The remaining $728,174,280 (11%) are owed by the Hospital District ($356,115,000 = 5.3%), County ($252,658,018 = 3.8%), EPCC ($113,195,000 = 1.7%), two Water Improvement Districts ($9,028,000 = 0.14%), and County 911 District ($2,178,262 = 0.03%).
Please note that several of our taxing entities are planning major debt issuances. Our City will issue $601 million in voter-approved bond debt starting in FY 2026. Canutillo ISD is planning to put a $387 million bond on the ballot this November, and EPISD will go for $600 million. El Paso County intends to issue $150 million in non-voter-approved certificates of obligation and $350 million in general obligation bonds.
That is nearly $2.1 billion in additional debt principle; and if Socorro ISD issues $769 million in bond debt as it indicated last July and UMC moves forward with building a new Eastside hospital, our community will be on the hook for more than $3 billion in additional principle, launching our property tax into the stratosphere.
If we continue down this path and allow Cassandra Hernandez and her ilk to determine our fiscal policies, El Pasoans will emulate Detroit and flee by the tens of thousands, eroding our tax base and sending us into an economic death spiral from which we may never recover.
Here are the 2023 debt figures from the Texas Bond Review Board:
TAXING ENTITY, DEBT PRINCIPLE + INTEREST
City of El Paso, including water and sewage, $4,634,465,631
EPISD, $1,419,350,548
Ysleta ISD, $1,637,898,694
Socorro ISD, $1,169,732,601
El Paso County Hospital District, $546,819,090
El Paso County, $315,753,608
Clint ISD, $203,962,013
EPCC, $173,316,601
Canutillo ISD, $100,621,365
San Elizario ISD, $36,371,092
Fabens ISD, $28,052,520
Tornillo ISD, $18,522,208
El Paso County WCI District 4, $10,574,703
Anthony ISD, $3,511,581
El Paso WID – Tornillo, $3,087,185
El Paso County 911 District, $2,220,233
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