El Paso County Commissioners Court unanimously adopts tax rate, Lowers county tax rate

The El Paso County Commissioners Court Monday unanimously adopted the ‘No New Revenue Tax Rate’ for FY2022, which officials say that El Paso County will not collect more in property taxes from taxpayers than it did in FY2021.

With the vote, the County of El Paso will not increase taxes, but will actually reduce the tax rate for the next fiscal year, resulting in savings to El Paso County taxpayers.  Even with the increase in property values county-wide, the vote means a reduction in rate by almost 4%.

Commissioner Iliana Holguin of Pct. 3 shares that she’s proud to have led the effort to reduce the tax rate for El Paso County residents, and pointed to the ongoing pandemic as the primary reason for trying to alleviate the tax burden for its citizens as much as possible.

“We must not forget that we are still in the midst of a global pandemic and that many of our residents are still suffering financially. According to El Pasoans Fighting Hunger, approximately 12,000 families per week were still in need of food assistance throughout the month of July in order to keep their families fed,” Holguin shared.

“The County’s Rental Assistance program has committed close to $1 million in rental assistance to families still struggling due to COVID, and another nearly $1 million in utility assistance. It is clear that El Paso County families still need help, and now is definitely not the time to increase the tax burden on our citizens. In fact, we need to try to reduce the tax burden and help our residents keep more money in their pockets.”

The No New Revenue Tax Rate adopted today by the Commissioners Court for FY2022 will be $0.470181 per $100 taxable property value.

County officials add that the adopted tax rate is lower than the FY2021 tax rate of $0.488997 per $100 taxable property value.

“As Elected Officials, it is our responsibility to the taxpayer to do everything possible to provide financial relief as we continue to navigate through the unforeseen challenges of the pandemic, while still providing exceptional public service to meet our community’s ever changing demands,” said County Judge Ricardo A. Samaniego.
Individuals that did not see a valuation increase in their property will experience some property tax relief from the County. By lowering the tax rate from $0.488 to $0.47 per $100 of property valuation, the County achieved its goal of easing some of the pressure on taxpayers because of the ongoing financial uncertainty caused by the pandemic.
Ultimately the County’s taxable property values and tax rate determine how much funding the County will receive from residential and commercial property owners. The County tax rate makes up approximately 16 percent of the total property tax dollars collected in El Paso County.
More than 80 percent of every tax dollar collected in El Paso goes to other governmental entities to cover costs of services other than those provided by the County; this includes public schools, city run operations, the county hospital district and the local community college.
Officials add that this year’s budget will be adopted on September 27, 2021, however, the Court is making every effort to ensure that the continuity of services are not only maintained but returned to pre-pandemic levels. This includes routine equipment replacement, continued road maintenance and enhancements, as well as other projects that will further enhance flood control efforts and economic development within our growing community.