Community leaders come together for annual State of the City

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA)-- The Andress High School Marching Band welcomed city and business leaders to a sold-out State of the City address.

Johnson highlighted progress in police and fire services but said drunk driving remains a concern.

“One accident is way too many. We can do much better. So we’re going to be making a bigger effort at getting drunk drivers off the streets of El Paso,” Johnson said.

The mayor also promoted higher-paying jobs tied to new development.

“With our advanced manufacturing district at the airport, we’re going to be attracting aerospace and defense companies to El Paso. And they need to pay a livable wage at much higher rates than what some of our El Pasoans are used to getting,” he said.

Johnson campaigned on lowering property taxes, but some residents say they are paying more now.

He said long-term relief depends on growing business and sales tax revenue.

“Our sales tax number for December 2025 was the highest we’ve ever had in the history of El Paso, at $16 million. So the more sales tax revenue we can bring in, the lower our property taxes will get over a period of time,” Johnson said.