Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Thursday his office has told more than 130 Texas cities they can’t raise property taxes because they’re not complying with a new state law.
The push is part of an ongoing effort by Paxton to make sure cities aren’t unduly raising property taxes under Senate Bill 1851, which passed last year. That law is part of a GOP-led push to rein in the state’s high property taxes. It bars cities from raising more in property taxes than they did the previous year if they don’t conduct an annual financial audit and release an annual financial statement based on that audit.
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“I will not allow cities to unlawfully raise taxes on hardworking Texans,” Paxton said in a statement. “That is why I took aggressive action against over 130 Texas cities to hold them accountable and ensure they comply with state law. Cities cannot fail to abide by state audit requirements without consequences.”
Last year, Paxton requested financial documents and other information from a majority of the state’s 1,200 cities to determine whether they’re following the law. His office said some 135 cities “failed to comply” with the law but did not say how.
Among those cities were Alpine, Balch Springs, Victoria and Wimberley. Paxton’s office said those cities comprised “an initial list of non-compliant cities, and the investigation remains ongoing.”
Small cities told lawmakers that the bill’s provisions would disproportionately impact them because they do not have the manpower or time to produce audits within the 180-day requirement. The penalties that bar them from collecting some taxes would hurt their already paltry budgets.
The Texas Tribune reached out to several cities Paxton notified, but they have not immediately responded to questions.
Larger cities like Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth and Corpus Christi were among the cities first subject to Paxton’s tax probe. Those cities were absent from the list of towns Paxton ordered not to raise their taxes.
So was Odessa. Paxton put the city on notice last year after officials adopted a tax hike, but has not responded to city officials after they supplied his office with documents justifying the increase.