Council approves $903M budget with tax rate increase; Mayor Leeser has 5 days to veto

Mayor Oscar Leeser is expected to veto the $903-million fiscal year 2017 budget approved by El Paso City Council Tuesday morning.

The newly-approved budget increased by $58 million compared to the 2016 fiscal year budget.

Council approved taxing property owners 77 cents for every $100 of home valuation. That rate increase is a little more than 5 percent. The proposed 5 percent hike could mean you pay an extra $39 per year for every $100,000 your home is worth. Everyone’s bill will differ based on property appraisals.

The tax increase will help pay for a 3 percent pay increase for firefighters approved by El Paso voters. The budget also includes a 2-and-a-half percent pay increase for El Paso police officers.

District 7 City Rep. Lily Limón was the only council member who voted against the budget. City Rep. Dr. Michiel Noe was not present for the vote.

Limón said she voted against the budget because it did not mandate a pay increase for the employees who work for contractors hired by the city.

Leeser, who opposes any budget that raises taxes on property owners, announced earlier this year he will not seek reelection. Leeser said the move proves his opposition against a tax increase is not politically motivated.

Leeser spent part of the morning meeting with the city manager and city attorney to discuss the veto procedure and possible cuts to the budget.

“Public safety is one that is not even an option. And I told them the raise to the city employees , to delay it is also not an option because what would it do to morale to say, ‘OK we are going to cut your raise by six months?’ It’s important that we don’t do that. You know there are thousands of other line items that I want to look at,” Leeser said.

Municipal clerk Richarda Momsen told ABC-7 former Mayor John Cook never vetoed a budget and she can’t remember a mayor ever vetoing a budget during her nearly 30 years in office. Momsen said this is likely due to El Paso previously having a “strong-mayor” form of council in which the mayor himself presented the budget.

Momsen said Leeser has five days to veto the budget. If council wishes to override the veto, it has to place the item on a city agenda.

The City Charter defines El Paso’s mayor’s veto power as:

“Ordinances and resolutions finally adopted by the Council shall be filed in the office of the City Clerk and signed by the Mayor before they take effect. If the Mayor vetoes the ordinance or resolution, reasons shall be set forth by the Mayor in writing, and the ordinance or resolution with those reasons shall be returned to the Council. However, the Mayor shall not have any veto power over any City Council action which removes the City Manager. To override the Mayor’s veto, three fourths of all of the Representatives must vote in favor of the returned ordinance or resolution, in which event the adopted ordinance or resolution shall become law. If the Mayor shall either fail to approve or object in writing to any adopted ordinance or resolution within five days after it has been filed with the City Clerk, exclusive of the day of filing, it shall become law.”