Bear with me please, we are going to do a little bit of arithmetic here. Getting numbers in one place for the El Paso situation has been a challenge.
Several of our local politicians are complaining that our homeowners are shouldering an unfair part of the property tax burden. Businesses are getting an unfair break according to them.
According to this article in El Paso Inc. local commercial properties were valued a $6.4 billion by the central appraisal district last year. We have been told that commercial values are flat this year.
The county placed the total value of property in the county at $36.1 billion for their 2014 tax year.
That makes the appraised value of commercial property at about 1/6 of all property.
San Antonio
El Paso is frequently compared to San Antonio as being a place that we should aspire to be more like, success wise.
This article in the San Antonio Express-News tells us that Bexar county’s commercial property values are “about $21 billion” out of their total valuation of $120.6 billion.
That’s about 1/6, just like us.
Tax rates
Now let’s look at the tax rates in the two cities for 2013:
San Antonio’s city tax rate is .56569 per hundred dollars of valuation while El Paso was at .6783 per hundred. We are 20% higher.
Bexar county was at .296187 while El Paso county was at .4331. We are 46% higher.
The San Antonio school district came in at 1.3576. Our Ysleta district has the highest rate of the school districts in the city. Their number was 1.36 per hundred, virtually the same as San Antonio. EPISD came in at 1.235.
Larger tax base
Bexar county properties are valued at 3 1/3 times greater than El Paso county’s. The 2012 population of Bexar county was 1.786 million people while El Paso county’s was 644,964 making Bexar about 2.8 times more populous than El Paso.
Many arguments can be made as to why Bexar has a larger tax base. Unfortunately we are still left with the fact that we in El Paso had the 7th highest tax rate among the top 50 cities in the United States in 2013. That is before the bill for the downtown projects and the quality of life bonds adds even more.
The new city manager was quoted recently about how “wants” somehow become “needs” in El Paso.
Maybe if we started to live within our means and elected competent government officials we would have a better chance of attracting businesses to town.
One thing is certain however. At least when compared to San Antonio our businesses are paying the same share of the tax burden.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
The new city manager is correct when he states wants become needs.
This confusion is driven by attempts by politicians to leave a legacy. The only legacy that is being left, is having the highest taxes and the massive debt. What do they care, fame is the name of the game.
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In a speech at a city council meeting, Josh Hunt played to the egos of council members and then mayor Cook by telling them that the new ballpark would be their legacy. They were apparently moved. They bought it — literally.
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That is why new projects need to have a business case that will pay for them other than just an increased tax base that is milked. For example, the “10:1” value increase ecstatically claimed by Courtney Niland for the trolley project, even if it happens (which it won’t), is still property tax, not revenues from the trolley itself. It is all very charming, but does not relieve an overtaxed homeowner in El Paso. Neither does the stadium or San Jacinto remodel or an arena.
CC: If you want to help El Paso, figure out how to make money, not spend it!
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Speaking of businesses paying their fair share, is it just me or does it seem a tad bit odd that city council voted to grant ADP a 60% tax rebate over 10 years AFTER the company had already announced its expansion? If ADP had already made up its mind and even publicized its decision, why was it necessary for the city to give them the tax break after the fact. This makes me think that council had already conferred and made their decision and that the vote was just to make it official.
The following excerpt from the Times contains more of the City’s fuzzy math used to justify corporate giveaways.
“The expansion of ADP is expected to create about 1,100 jobs by the end of 2020, with hiring beginning in 2015…. The total employment effect of ADP expanding its operation is expected to be about 2,562 jobs created with about 889 being indirectly created by 2020 with an estimated $653 million brought to the local economy….”
Notice the giant leap from 1,100 jobs to 2,562 jobs … not 2,500 jobs, precisely 2,562. That’s quite a grand and precise projection for a city staff that can’t budget accurately for ballpark construction or balance a budget without raising taxes.
So, getting back to the question: Is ADP paying its fair share?
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It is rather refreshing to finally have a mentally stable CM, now that little Miss ‘l thought this was going to be the worst day in my life, but it turned out to be the best’ is finally out of the picture. lt’s also a relief that we now have a CFO who is capable of doing more than just 1st grade math, unfortunately the damage has already been done. And as far as collecting a meager 665k goes, wouldn’t we have collected more revenue if there was no ballpark and people would continue to entertain/feed themselves by patronizing local businesses that actually pay taxes because they don’t have a sweetheart deal?
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