No, Del Rio’s Property Tax Increase Won’t Be Halted by Attorney General Ken Paxton

Attorney General Ken Paxton published a press release on October 2, 2025, calling out four Texas municipalities for violating the new S.B. 1851 law. The cities of La Marque, Odessa, Tom Bean, and Whitesboro recently ratified their tax rates, and Paxton halted the implementation of those tax rates. The City of Del Rio’s recent tax increase is currently safe because it met the key deadline under the new law.

Paxton provided evidence that those 4 municipalities had not completed their required financial documentation on time or at all. The press release, “Attor­ney Gen­er­al Ken Pax­ton Orders Texas Cities to Halt Poten­tial­ly Ille­gal Prop­er­ty Tax Increas­es Under New Texas Law,” states: “I have grave concerns that municipalities across Texas have blatantly violated the law in an attempt to crank up people’s property taxes,” said Attorney General Paxton. “My message to these cities is this: don’t mess with Texas taxpayers. Local governments must abide by the law, and I will take every step to defend the people of Texas and their hard-earned dollars.” 

In his Letter to Odessa City Council, Paxton said: “Texans deserve government at all levels that understands the impact of taxes on economic prosperity and keeps dollars in their pockets. Burdensome tax increases are antithetical to the spirit that drives Texas and require the utmost scrutiny both by the citizenry and by the State.” Odessa was moving their rate from $0.466 to $0.47 per $100 of assessed value, according to Odessa Financial Records. This is a .004 cent increase, as compared to Del Rio’s proposed full .01 cent increase.

On September 29, the City of Del Rio ratified their property tax rate. Del Rio City Council voted to increase the rate by one penny, from $0.697 to $0.707. On September 17, the City’s statement read: “This budget will raise more revenue from property taxes than last year’s budget by an amount of $1,149,585 or 8.85%, and of that amount, $198,604 is tax revenue to be raised from new property added to the tax roll this year.” The new tax rate will be “$0.7070 per $100 valuation,” higher than the no-new revenue rate.

READ MORE ABOUT DEL RIO’s TAX RATE INCREASE HERE: City Manager Proposes Budget Without Layoffs After Month of Pushback; Funding Cuts Planned Elsewhere

S.B. No. 1851 went into effect September 1, 2025. The new S.B. 1851 law states: “If the attorney general determines that a municipality has not had its records and accounts audited and an annual financial statement prepared based on the audit as required by Section 103.001 or has not filed the financial statement and the auditor’s opinion on the statement in the office of the municipal secretary or clerk before the 180th day after the last day of the municipality’s Fiscal Year (FY) as required by Section 103.003, the municipality may not adopt an ad valorem tax rate that exceeds the municipality’s no-new-revenue tax rate.”

The 180-day deadline for Del Rio to submit their Del Rio Annual Financial Report 23-24FY would have been March 29, 2025. Del Rio City Council records show that this deadline was met. The March 25 Regular City Council Agenda includes meeting minutes from March 11, 2025, stating: “City Manager, Shawna Burkhart, expressed appreciation to the Finance Team, including Roxy Soto, Assistant Finance Director, Flavio Aguilar, Budget Analyst, and Linda Coones, Interim Finance Director for their efforts in completing the 2024 audit and commended them for their outstanding and arduous work.”

If Del Rio wants to increase their property tax rate again next year, they will have to submit their FY 24-25 audit before March 29, 2026, in order to comply with the new S.B. 1851 law. The FY 23-24 Annual Financial Report was prepared by the Interim Finance Director Linda Coones and Assistant Finance Director Roxy Soto. However, Coones’ last day of employment with the City was September 30, 2025. And according to the City’s 25-26 financial plan, they may not be able to replace her.

City Manager Shawna Burkhart said on September 17, “As we move through this next year, I will be reducing positions that become vacant, and I will have to hold on to vacancies and try to reduce the costs that way. I will also have to, if through attrition, attrition meaning if someone were to leave a position, we would hold that vacancy as well. We will try to create cost savings that way.”

Without a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) on staff, it will be difficult for the City to properly prepare and manage the documentation necessary to pass the external audit required to meet the S.B. 1851 deadline next year. It is anticipated that the City will have to hire an external CPA firm to complete the audit. The City does have $64,800.00 of General Funds budgeted for “Audit Services” in their 25-26 FY Budget.

See all of Del Rio’s financial audit reports here: Annual Comprehensive Financial Reports