EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14/CBS4) — El Paso County commissioners approved a lower property tax rate Monday for the 2026 tax year, choosing the no-new-revenue rate county officials had already used to build the recommended budget.
Commissioners approved a rate of $0.451133 per $100 of taxable property value, or about 45.11 cents. That is lower than last year’s adopted rate of $0.458889, or about 45.89 cents.
But county officials said the lower rate does not necessarily mean a lower bill for every homeowner.
The county estimates the average taxable home value increased nearly 6% this year, from $216,881 to $229,637. At the newly approved rate, the county estimates the average homeowner would pay about $1,035.97 for the county portion of their property tax bill.
That is about $40.73 more for the year, or $3.39 more per month than last year.
Jordan Salas reports on El Paso County approves lower property tax rate, average homeowner could still pay more (Credit: KFOX14)
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El Paso County Budget Director Carmen Arrieta-Candelaria said homeowners whose taxable values did not increase could see a small reduction because the tax rate itself went down. Those whose property values increased could still pay more.
“If you don’t have an increase in your valuation, you can see a little bit of a drop, because our tax rate did go down,” Arrieta-Candelaria said. “But if their values do go up then of course … they’ll pay a little bit more tax.”
Commissioners had several rates to choose from Monday.
The county presented options including the no-new-revenue rate of $0.451133, a $0.452393 rate that included a maintenance and operations recovery rate with new debt, and a $0.458291 rate based on the current maintenance and operations rate with new debt.
The highest option was the voter-approval rate of $0.504717, or about 50.47 cents per $100 of taxable value. That is the highest rate the county could adopt without triggering an election.
You can view El Paso County’s full property tax rate presentation below:
Presentation on August 17 2026 for Adoption of a Tax RatePDF previewPreview PDF
The county estimated the voter-approval rate would generate about $376.4 million in property tax revenue, compared with about $336.4 million at the no-new-revenue rate — a difference of roughly $40 million.
During the meeting, County Judge Ricardo Samaniego said choosing the lower rate would mean the county has less money available to address needs and services residents have brought forward.
“So by not taking the voter approval rate … we have $46 million dollars less to do the things people have discussed,” Samaniego said during the meeting.
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One taxpayer who spoke during the public hearing said he supported the lower rate.
Alvaro De La Reza said the decision was what he had hoped for and said he expected commissioners to follow through after candidates had campaigned against increasing the tax rate.
“It is definitely what I wanted,” De La Reza said. “I think they did the right move.”
Asked about the county forgoing the additional revenue available under the higher rate, de Rosa said commissioners would have to operate without it.
“Obviously they’re going to have to work without it, so I’m okay with it,” he said.
The county’s recommended fiscal year 2027 budget totals about $696.8 million and was already built around the no-new-revenue rate commissioners approved Monday.
Arrieta-Candelaria said county officials were comfortable with the rate because it supports the budget they created. She said commissioners made additional decisions Monday that will now be incorporated into the final proposed budget.
The county’s final budget is expected to return to commissioners Sept. 14.
Arrieta-Candelaria said homeowners should see the new county tax rate reflected in tax bills issued around October.
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