Our city leaders — all of them, the elected and the economic and the City staff — are managing El
Category: Taxes
Retrovision: The Bane of QoL: O & M
This article originally appeared on 18 December 2014. El Paso is a cash-strapped town. Nobody foresaw that our boom years,
The Trouble With TIRZs
You might no be so pissed off when you wrote that property tax check if your money was going for
Retrovision: A Local Expert’s Perspective on Economic Development
This post originally appeared on 10 October 2015. Here’s what Jerry Pacheco, the Executive Director of the International Business Accelerator,
Common Sense
Here’s an ad from Britain’s Labour Party which has some relevance for our local tax policies. But you know what
Retrovision: The Real Cost of the Quality of Life Projects
This article originally appeared on 12 April 2017. Sure, half a billion dollars is a lot of money. Especially for
As Goes the Golf Course, So Goes the City
According to this story in the El Paso Times, the City isn’t going to bail out the Vista Hills Country
Retrovision: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About TIRZs*
*That the City doesn’t want you to know. This article originally appeared on 23 May 2018. What is a Tax
Retrovision: Economic Development: Economics 101
This post originally appeared on 27 August 2015. Back when I was in school, before the wheel and shortly after
The Organization Before the Community
The City Manager protects his team. Even when they’re wrong. So if one of his Deputy City Managers decides to
The Effects of Corruption
Back in 2009, Woody Hunt talked about the effects of corruption in this interview with the El Paso Inc. Scholarly
Widening the I-10 Trench
Did you see this op-ed in the El Paso Times by Sito Negron? You may have heard about the I-10
Disinformation
Maybe you saw this op-ed in the El Paso Times this weekend: We are proud El Paso residents, but it
Where Does The Money Grow?
The Capital Improvements portion of the adopted FY 2019 budget is $198,758,086. Where does it come from? From the budget
Mom and Dad Are Fighting
You probably saw this op-ed in the Times, where former mayor John Cook and ex-City Manager Joyce Wilson defend their
KVIA’s Special Report on QOL Cost Overruns
KVIA delivered a Special Report last night on the Quality of Life bond projects cost overruns. It’s entertaining. Just spitballing,
John Stossel on Stadiums
On the occasion of Super Bowl LIII, John Stossel reminds us. Fortunately, we’re smarter than that. Aren’t we?
On Roads and Debt
Here’s a piece from StrongTowns.org about how to deal with deteriorating roads and increasing municipal debt. The story is from
The Great Wolf Swindle
The City must have stayed up late figuring out how to swindle the taxpayers with that new Great Wolf Lodge.
From the People Who Brought You “It’s All Good”
If you needed more proof of El Paso’s corrupt, inbred, good old boy network, consider this: Bill Burton, the mastermind