City Considers Annexing Fort Bliss
City leaders aren’t interested in taking over Fort Bliss, but they are very concerned with collecting some of the money generated on post. Mayor John Cook estimates more than $300,000 are at stake at Freedom Crossing alone — the massive shopping center under construction.
“It’s the first in the army’s history, where they’ve gone out and basically built a mall on post,” said Mayor John Cook. “But Fort Bliss isn’t in the city limits, so if you’re collecting eight and a quarter percent, how do we get our portion of that?”
Fort Bliss is outside city limits, which means tax money generated at the post is off limits to El Paso. Only the PX, the commissary and stores operated by AAFES, or the Army and Air Force Exchange Service don’t charge sales tax.
But with new restaurants and coffee shops and even a 10-screen movie theater on the way, that’s a lot of sales tax money city leaders are determined to keep in El Paso. City leaders say the revenue generated is easy money, that would keep them from making some not-so-easy decisions.
“$300,000 does mean something us,” Cook said. “It’s something we think about when we ponder whether we’ll have to lay off people, whether we’ll defer raises and compensation.”
The mayor said that annexation is the only way to get a portion of the sales tax generated at Fort Bliss. Fort Bliss could be annexed either voluntarily or forcibly, the latter which could take up to two years. It’s a complicated process, which is why the Mayor would prefer to just change the tax codes.
