Photo: Moment RF
Attorney General Ken Paxton has sent letters to multiple Texas cities ordering them to halt some property tax increases.
Paxton sent letters to La Marque, Odessa, Tom Bean, and Whitesboro, warning that their property tax increases might violate Texas law.
He said in a press release, "I have grave concerns that municipalities across Texas have blatantly violated the law in an attempt to crank up people’s property taxes. My message to these cities is this: don’t mess with Texas taxpayers."
The press release went on to explain that the recently passed Senate Bill 1851 stipulates that cities that do not meet the state's auditing requirements may only raise taxes enough to maintain the previous year's amount of revenue.
Auditing laws require that cities file annual reports and financial statements by a certain point in the fiscal year, and multiple municipalities either failed to file at all or filed late.