El Paso City Council adopts fiscal year 2027 budget
UPDATE (4:30 p.m.) — City council voted to reduce the proposed budget by $6,495,971 to adopt it.
City Council said it approved the fiscal year 2027 budget and adopted a property tax rate of $0.798000 per $100 of taxable value, which is 1.1 cents below the introduced rate.
By adopting the lower rate, the city said its council reduced the estimated increase for the average homestead by $26.82 annually compared to the originally proposed rate.
The adopted budget includes $658.6 million in general fund spending, the city said. For the average homestead, the city tax bill is estimated to increase by $8.75 per month.
According to the city, these financial obstacles drove the increase:
Police and fire costs increasing by $11.9 million to maintain first-responder staffing, readiness and existing public safety operations. State-mandated property tax exemptions provide relief to eligible taxpayers, but reduce revenue to support city services. The estimated revenue impact increases from $21.6 million to $33.4 million in fiscal year 2027. The city said that’s an additional loss of approximately $11.8 million. Required debt service is increasing by $4.3 million. The city said it’s primarily for capital investments, including voter-approved community progress bond projects. The city has to replace expiring federal funding and cover higher contractual, utility, fuel, technology, maintenance and employee benefit costs.
The city said public safety remains the largest area of the general fund investment ($371 million). The budget includes:
$10 million for street maintenance $4.9 million for citywide facility maintenance and improvements $1.5 million for parks and recreation amenity replacements and improvements $9.4 million for police and fire department vehicles and equipment
UPDATE (12:42 p.m.) – The motion to approve the FY2026-2027 city council budget fails in a 5-3 vote.
Rep. Alejandra Chavez, Rep. Cynthia Boyar Trejo, Rep. Ivan Niño, Rep. Art Fierro and Rep. Lily Limón voted against approving the budget.
Rep. Josh Acevedo, Rep. Deanna Maldonado-Rocha and Rep. Chris Canales voted to approve the budget.
Conversations in council continue as they decides what to cut from the budget to lower property taxes for residents.
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) – Tuesday, El Paso City Council will vote on whether to approve the FY 2026-2027 budget.
If council adopts the No-New Revenue tax rate, the tax rate will increase by $0.747490. The estimated property tax bill would be $1,590.49 for the median home valued at $212,778, according to the taxpayer impact statement.
The proposed tax rate is $0.809487. The estimated property tax bill would be $1,722.41 for the median home valued at $212,778, according to the taxpayer impact statement.
According to budget adoption documents, the budget increase is driven by:
Loss of taxable value from state action Need to sustain ongoing city operations and obligations
Increasing Costs:
Public Safety Fixed costs and contractual obligations Debt service for voter-approved bond projects
Loss of Revenue:
Unfunded State mandates (property tax exemptions) No use of fund balance or one-time revenue Expiring American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) federal funding
The proposed budget would raise more total property taxes than last year’s budget by $30,098,806 or 7%. Of that amount, $4,263,648 is tax revenue to be raised from new property added to the tax roll this year, according to budget adoption documents.
Council is set to vote on the budget during the city council meeting Tuesday.
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