Group warns Council: Property tax increase will also hurt those who rent apartments

El Paso Homeowners are bracing for another city tax hike, but the proposed tax increase may go beyond affecting just homeowners.

When it’s finally approved, the City says it will be a four cent increase, meaning you’ll pay $40 more per year for a home valued at $100,000. City leaders say they want to invest the extra tax revenue on public safety and streets.

During Tuesday’s City Council meeting, a group warned Council that if property taxes go up, so could the cost to rent an apartment.

The El Paso Apartment Association consists of both management and renters, representing more than 41,000 units across the city.

The group told Council the tax increase would translate to increased rent rates for nearly 113,000 renters.

Members of the apartment association said a rate increase would force apartment managers to either absord the cost, or more likely, increase rent rates.

“If the tax that’s proposed, approved, El Paso will become the most expensive city for property taxes, as far as the city tax goes, in all of Texas’s largest cities,” said Stephanie Uribarri, with the apartment association.

The apartment association said that right now, Fort Worth has the second highest tax rate in Texas. The medium household income in Fort Worth is $55,000 a year. In El Paso, the medium household income is $41,000.