PROPERTY TAX INCREASES: THE HYPOCRISY OF CITY COUNCIL
Last month our City Council voted unanimously to order City Manager Tommy Gonzalez to craft a plan to decrease the City property tax rate, which has risen 38% since Gonzalez…
THE GREAT EL PASO EXODUS
Dear Friends, As I indicated below, the 2020 US Census shows that the population of Texas increased 15.9% between 2010 and 2020, while the population of the City of El…
EL PASO TIMES: 18 QOL BOND PROJECTS ARE $58 MILLION OVER BUDGET
Dear Friends, Mónica Ortiz Uribe of the El Paso Times just published a long and interesting report on Texas’ regressive tax system, which disproportionately impacts low-income residents of our state.…
CITY’S $413M PUBLIC SAFETY BOND HAS NO CITIZEN OVERSIGHT!
Dear Friends and Media, Unlike the 2012 Quality of Life Bond ($473,250,000) and the 2019 Ysleta School Bond ($425,000,000), the 2019 Public Safety Bond ($413,000,000) has no bond overview advisory…
NEW CITY FIRE STATION TO COST $1,180 PER SQUARE FOOT!
Dear Friends and Media, On November 5, 2019 El Pasoans voted to issue $413,122,650 in general obligation bonds for public safety projects. The breakdown of how the funds would be…
RENT FOR TWO-BEDROOM APARTMENTS UP 17% SINCE LAST YEAR!
Dear Friends, In the current issue of El Paso Inc, Reyes Mata shows that rent for a two-bedroom apartment in El Paso increased 16.9% for the 12 months ending in…
EL PASO INC: HIGH TAXES DRIVING EL PASOANS TO FLEE IN LARGE NUMBERS
Dear Friends, David Crowder of El Paso Inc published a bombshell report yesterday focusing on El Paso’s anemic growth with respect to the nearby towns of Dona Ana County, New…
EL PASO TIMES DOUBLE FEATURE: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ON DEFICIT SPENDING AND TAXES
Dear Friends, This past Friday, the El Paso Times published two letters to the editor under the heading “City officials forget their obligation to taxpayers.” They lament the City’s out-of-control…
DIRECTOR OF CITY’S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT RESIGNS
Dear Friends, Jessica Herrera, the head of the City’s Economic and International Development Department, has resigned. According to a report by Vic Kolenc of the El Paso Times, she has…
CITY EXPENSES TO EXCEED PROPERTY TAX REVENUES BY $60 MILLION IN FY 2025
David Crowder of the El Paso Inc published a report in which he analyzed a PowerPoint presented by City CFO Robert Cortinas–yes, the same CFO who recently told me that…