How Texas's Tax Ban Leaves El Paso Homeowners Behind

Ummmm, excuse us - Attorney General Paxton? Sir? It's El Paso ... could we have a word with you over here please?

Over 130 Texas cities have been banned from raising property taxes by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. A move I'm sure pretty much every Texas homeowner absolutely loved. As a homeowner, I love it too but ... bummer alert ... El Paso isn't one of those cities.

The state of Texas recently did away with vehicle inspections but El Paso drivers still have to get them. Now, (again), El Paso gets the shaft and misses out on another potential money saving move.

READ MORE: El Paso Sued Over Unfair Chargers

AG Paxton made several changes regarding property taxes to keep cities from being unfair and forcing them to be more transparent about what they're doing.

The push is part of an ongoing effort by Paxton to make sure cities aren’t unduly raising property taxes under Senate Bill 1851, which passed last year. That law is part of a GOP-led push to rein in the state’s high property taxes. It bars cities from raising more in property taxes than they did the previous year if they don’t conduct an annual financial audit and release an annual financial statement based on that audit. - texastribune.org

The Mayor Of El Paso Said He'd Lower Taxes

Ironically, Mayor Johnson ran on a platform that promised to lower property taxes yet, they went up anyway. Supposedly it was because our property was found to be more valuable than originally thought.

Uh huh - So, just to be clear, they cut the tax rate but raised the property value so much that the "lower" rate is still costing more. My taxes went up quite a bit and I totally filed a protest so, we'll see how it goes. For now, well played City Council ... well played.

Combating stuff like this is what AG Paxton set out to do and he ordered over 130 Texas cities to freeze their taxes because they're not playing by the rules. Great news for them but El Paso got left out in the cold again.

See the Texas cities that have been ordered to freeze taxes here.

Property Taxes by State: The USA's Lowest and Highest

Finding the home of your dreams, settling down, and raising a family with a great yard and a white picket fence. Every fairy tale needs a villain, and the American Dream has property tax. WalletHub recently ranked the 50 and the District of Columbia to determine which state has the highest property tax in the United States. Let's start from the lowest and finish with America's highest state property tax.

Gallery Credit: Scott Clow