El Paso council overrides mayor’s budget veto; residential property taxes go up for 3rd year in row

El Paso City Council voted 6-2 Tuesday to override Mayor Dee Margo’s veto of the city’s budget resolution which was adopted last week.

That means property taxes for homeowners will soon go up.

Council’s budget includes a tax rate of 90.7 cents per every $100 valuation of your home; that’s a six-cent increase.

The owner of a home valued at $100,000 will be paying $64 more a year in property taxes.

Margo, in vetoing the budget, had said it would result in three straight years of tax hikes and “go against basic fiscal oversight and restraint.”

A majority of council members, however, said they feared higher police response times would occur and public safety could be hampered if their budget plan wasn’t implemented.

Margo said the tax rate the council is now imposing places too great a burden on residential property owners.