On May 3, the Texas House passed HB 79, which would increase the registration fee for a standard vehicle in El Paso County from $84 to $94, making our fee the highest of the 254 counties in Texas.
We confirmed this information with the County Tax Assessor, Ruben Gonzalez.
The bill was sponsored by 14 Representatives, 2 Republicans from Bexar County and 12 Democrats, and it passed 85 to 57. All the “nay” votes were Republicans.
Among the sponsors were the four members of the El Paso delegation:
Mary Gonzalez of District 75
Lina Ortega of District 77
Joe Moody of District 78
Claudia Ordaz Perez of District 79
Beyond our base registration fee, El Pasoans pay a $10 Road and Bridge Fee and a $10 Regional Mobility Authority fee (that is imposed by only five other Texas counties).
HB 79 would increase the RMA fee to $20 and that would allow the Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority (CRRMA) to finance hundreds of millions in bonds for infrastructure improvements.
Our CRRMA is chaired by former City Manager Joyce Wilson, who was appointed by Governor Abbot, and includes Joe Wardy and other surrogates for the Oligarchy.
HB 79 will now go to the Texas Senate, and I suspect Cesar Blanco will push for its passage, but with any luck the Senate Republicans will kill it dead.
Please write to our State Delegation to oppose this unprecedented fee hike, which would make our vehicle registration the most expensive in Texas!
cesar.blanco@senate.texas.gov; mary.gonzalez@house.texas.gov; lina.ortega@house.texas.gov; joe.moody@house.texas.gov; claudia.ordazperez@house.texas.gov
We can only imagine what this fee would be used to finance. Can you say “DECK PARK”?