Here’s a couple of factoids I extracted from this El Paso Times article about rising property valuations:
The overall market value of single-family homes in El Paso County increased 25.1% this year to a total of $43.04 billion, preliminary Appraisal District data show.
The overall taxable value, the value to which tax bills are tied, increased 17.7% in the county to a total of $34.6 billion.
. . .
Commercial properties’ total market value in the county increased 15.9 percent this year to more than $10.1 billion, preliminary data show.
The total market value of single family homes in El Paso County is $43.04 billion, and the total market value of commercial properties is $10.1 billion.
That means that single family homes make up 79.1% of the total market value of single family homes and commercial property combined.
The stat is for the County, but it’s not disingenuous to extrapolate to inside the city limits.
Remember when our “city leaders” told us we have to make all that investment in Quality of Life amenities to attract industry, because homeowners were carrying an unfair share of the tax burden? Back then the tax on homeowners was like 65% of the City’s overall property tax revenue.
Today it must be north of 80%.
The “single family homes” category doesn’t include duplexes. It doesn’t include quads, or apartments.
Does “commercial property” include industrial property? Well, we don’t really have a lot of high dollar industrial property, so that’s probably negligible.
And remember that any tax increase in commercial properties in a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone doesn’t make it to the City’s General Fund. Downtown El Paso is covered by TIRZ 5, for instance.
Beside, the City gives tax incentives out like they were Easter candy. Any new enterprise moving to El Paso isn’t contributing to our tax base.
Have I mentioned lately that El Paso was recently named one of the least affordable cities in U.S.?
This is a result of the class war the City of El Paso, the Chamber of Commerce, and MountainStar Sports Group are waging on the working class, small businesses, and people who live on fixed incomes. The leisure class wants glitzy amenities, and they want everyone to pay for them, not just the folks who use them.
Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone and City giving tax incentives makes NO sense. How do they get away with it!!!???
My sad story is that, despite a jump from last year, to this, my new appraisal shows an even bigger jump from this year, to next! I have already submitted my request for a hearing, and have a date, but despite fierce research I can find nothing to support my plea for a break! Houses in my area are indeed selling for an average price higher than my new valuation, and I know that mine has seen more than enough improvements over the years we’ve lived here to hold its own. Taking photos up and down the street seemed like a good idea, but I can’t walk right now (recuperating from a knee replacement), and even if I had photos, none of these houses are for sale or have been sold recently enough to provide meaningful data. I say my story is sad mostly because our taxes have indeed gone up and up, with no end in sight, I can’t really find meaningful data to prevent it, other than the fact that my return on tax dollars appears to be at an all time low, as our streets continue to deteriorate, we still have no traffic cops, and what used to be paid for with tax dollars has now been passed along to us directly in our every increasing water bills, no longer accessible public places, and few, if any true quality of life activities out here in the hinterlands.