ODESSA — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is demanding that four cities suspend their property tax increases as his office investigates whether they broke a new state law.
Paxton, in letters to city officials in Odessa, La Marque, Tom Bean and Whitesboro, said his office received complaints that the cities either missed key financial reporting deadlines or have incomplete audits.
A new law, signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in May, forbids local governments from raising property taxes if they are not complying with the state’s auditing requirements. It grants the Paxton’s office the power to investigate complaints…