This morning the El Paso Times noticed that property taxes in El Paso are escalating at an undesirable rate. Not that there’s ever been a government proposal to increase spending that the El Paso Times Editorial Board opposed.
The fact is, taxes are going to keep going up. The federal and state governments are scaling back their support of local services. Especially at the state level, where the government has been abdicating responsibility for highways, mental health, and education since the current gubernatorial regime took office.
El Paso already had some of the highest property tax rates in the country, even before the latest round of spending commitments, which have yet to be financed.
We are faced with the onerous looming task of deciding which government services we want to maintain. For instance, do we want to keep prosecuting minor marijuana offenses to keep our community pure? Can we default on our police and fire department pensions? Should we eliminate funding for economic development?
Somewhere we’ve got to stanch the bleeding. It’s not going to be pretty. But it’s already pretty ugly.