When El Paso city leaders unveiled a budget plan that would increase property taxes, they touted an expanded exemption for senior citizens and people with disabilities that they said would reduce the sting for some. What they didn’t say is that the expanded exemption would only save $19 a year for the households affected.
Instead, the city said the exemptions saved $380 per household, without mentioning that longstanding policies were responsible for $361 of that savings.
In unveiling the city budget and tax rate for fiscal year 2026, officials included an increase to the homestead exemption for people 65 and older and those with disabilities, from the current $42,500 to $45,000. That’s on top of a $5,000 exemption available to all those occupying homes they own…