El Paso City Council Work Session - May 11, 2026: Property Values, Homeless Services, International Agreements, and More
El Paso City Council Work Session - May 11, 2026
The El Paso City Council convened on Monday, May 11, 2026, at 9:04 AM in council chambers, with Mayor Johnson presiding and a quorum present. The work session covered seven agenda items, including a presentation on preliminary property values by the Central Appraisal District, an update on the sister cities agreement with Ciudad Juárez, a report on the Welcome Center for the homeless, revisions to the International Policy Agenda, approval of Phase Two of the Shade Canopy Program, and a discussion on nominating opportunity zones. The council also entered executive session to discuss pending litigation. The meeting adjourned at 12:46 PM.
Discussion Items
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Property Values and Protest Period (Item 1): Dinah Kilgore, Executive Director of the El Paso Central Appraisal District, and Deputy Chief Appraiser David Stone presented the 2026 preliminary values. Key statistics: residential values increased 7% on average within city limits, with total taxable residential value rising from $35.7 billion to $38.2 billion; commercial from $10.2 billion to $11.5 billion; multifamily from $3.2 billion to $3.9 billion; and business personal property decreasing from $3.4 billion to $2.6 billion due to a new $125,000 exemption. The average home value in the city increased from $252,000 (2025) to $257,000 (2026). The protest deadline is May 15, 2026. Historically, approximately 70-73% of protests are successful. The 10% homestead appraisal cap means many homeowners see taxable value increases even if market values stabilize. The city faces a $920 million loss in commercial property value from the new business personal property exemption.
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Sister Cities Agreement with Ciudad Juárez (Item 2): Kim Davis from Economic and International Development presented an updated agreement to formalize the existing relationship with Ciudad Juárez. The agreement focuses on economic/trade cooperation, institutional coordination, community/cultural engagement, and regional sustainability (including tourism, education, and climate). No financial obligation is involved. The formal signing is scheduled for June 3, 2026, with Mayor Johnson and Mayor Cuéllar. An international affairs committee meets monthly, now with over 30 stakeholders.
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Welcome Center and Homeless Services (Item 3): John Martin from the Opportunity Center for the Homeless, along with partners from United Way and Amistad, presented on the El Paso Helps Initiative and the Welcome Center. Since opening in August 2022, the Welcome Center has served nearly 3,000 unique individuals, placed 562 into housing, and made 134 direct referrals for medical/behavioral health services. The homeless population served by the Opportunity Center increased 111% from 1,499 (2019) to 3,472 (2025). Combined data from the Coalition for the Homeless suggests over 5,000 individuals experience homelessness annually. The Welcome Center is currently funded by ARPA, which sunsets in August 2026, leaving an annual funding gap of $500,000 to $800,000. Speakers emphasized the initiative’s role as public infrastructure, reducing downstream costs for hospitals and emergency services.
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International Policy Agenda Revisions (Item 4): Adriana Pulsesio presented updates to the 2026 International Policy Agenda, adding four key initiatives: monitoring USMCA developments, expanding strategic international engagements (e.g., with Windsor, Canada), incorporating tourism and sustainability areas aligned with the sister cities agreement, and strengthening foreign direct investment programs. The agenda was approved unanimously.
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Shade Canopy Program Phase Two (Item 5): Pablo Caballero from Parks and Recreation presented Phase Two of the Shade Canopy Program, funded by the 2022 Community Progress Bond. With a $2 million budget, one park per district will receive shade canopies: Pacific Park (D1), Marywet Park (D2), Riverside Park (D3), Arlington Park (D4), Rainbow Vista Park (D5), Loma Linda Park (D6), Sleta Park (D7), and Tula Park (D8). Phase One was completed in May 2026 at a cost of $3 million. Final completion of Phase Two is expected by winter 2027. The motion passed unanimously.
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Opportunity Zones Nomination (Item 6): Alejandra represented Strategic and Legislative Affairs, presenting recommended census tracts for federal opportunity zone designation. The program is being reauthorized for 2027, and the city can nominate up to 80 tracts. Eight tracts were originally designated in 2018. The new recommendation includes tracts across districts except for District 5. An amendment was offered by Representative Nino to analyze tract 0103.58 in District 5 for potential eligibility, which passed unanimously. The main motion, as amended, also passed unanimously. The nomination will be submitted to the Texas Governor’s Office.
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Executive Session (EX1): The council retired to executive session at 12:12 PM to discuss litigation in Miguel Angel Rodriguez vs City of El Paso (Cause No. 2024 DCV 5578) under Texas Government Code 551.071. Upon returning at 12:45 PM, the council approved a motion to reject the mediator’s settlement proposal and authorize the city attorney to take necessary steps.
Key Outcomes
- Approved Phase Two of the Shade Canopy Program ($2 million) unanimously.
- Approved updates to the 2026 International Policy Agenda unanimously.
- Approved the nomination of opportunity zone census tracts, with an amendment to analyze tract 0103.58 in District 5, unanimously.
- Rejected the mediator’s settlement proposal in the Rodriguez lawsuit and authorized further legal action.
- Received an update on the sister cities agreement with formal signing scheduled for June 3, 2026.
Meeting Transcript
Well good morning, everyone. We are going to get started. Ms. Bryan. Good morning, Mayor. Good morning, everyone. This is a session of the El Paso City Council from Monday, May 11th, 2026. It is 904 a.m. Mayor Johnson is present and presiding in council chambers along with Mayor Potem Chavez, Representative Acevedo, Representative Boyatrejo, Representative Nino, Alternate Mayor Pro Tem Fierro, Representative Limon, Representative Canales, and Representative Madonado Rocha will be arriving later this morning. Mayor, we have a quorum. Okay, Representative, would you lead us on the plate, please? And to the Republic for which it stands under by individual. Okay, Miss Bryan. Yes, that brings us to item number one. And this is presentation and discussion by the El Paso Central Appraisal District's executive director and chief appraiser, Dinah Kilgore on the City of El Paso's 2026 pre-preliminary values and protest period. Good morning. Good morning, Mayor. Good morning, Council members. Thank you for having us this morning. Um we'll try to keep this short. We know you have a busy schedule, but we do want to get going and give you an idea of what's going on in El Paso city limits and within the county for this year. Okay, thank you for taking the time now to come do this first. Oh, you bet. Um, first of all, my name is Dinah Kilgore, executive director, chief appraiser for the El Paso Central Appraisal District, and David Stone is our deputy chief for the El Paso Central Appraisal District. So we'll both kind of be team team teaching here as we get started. I'm hoping this is on this one here. Yeah? Okay, gotcha. All right. For those of you that are new, um, appraisal district all throughout the state of Texas are mandated by a statute to appraise at mass appraisal. So with mass appraisal, we're looking at a universe of properties, not just a single, and a lot of property owners say, well, why aren't you getting more information to my house than somebody else's? Well, because we are mass appraisal. So we did look at and reviewed all of the properties again in for uh for 26, 2026, to see what the market is doing. We are seeing a bit of a stabilization in the market uh this year. We're not seeing those big double-digit percentage increases overall. I think uh for the city of El Paso is about a seven percent increase was was our average. Uh advantages of mass appraisal is we we we can afford it. If we did a single property appraisal, it would take multiple years and millions of dollars uh to be able to do that, and we'd have to turn right around and do it again. So uh with that kind of information, you can see why mass appraisal is the way assessment offices, not only in El Paso County, but in the state and in the country, uh appraise that mass appraisal. Um the disadvantages of mass appraisal, of course, are the fact that we don't know the particulars about a property. So that's why I thank you for having us here so we can discuss protesting and how to protest and deadlines uh before that final deadline uh hits us. Uh annual tax calendar. This is important because there are deadlines for property owners. Number one, put in your exemption. If you've got if it is your homestead, get that homestead exemption in our office. Come down, file, uh bring us your your electric bill, something that shows your address on there and your identification. Um you're entitled to that, don't pay somebody to do that for you. Property owners are entitled to have their homestead exemptions. We want to make sure they have them on their exemptions. I'm gonna turn it over a little bit.
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