Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina's Property Tax Claims Face Scrutiny in Congressional Race Against Henry Cuellar
In the race for Texas’ 28th congressional district, Republican challenger Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina is facing scrutiny over his campaign claims of lowering property taxes. Tijerina's campaign ad boasts that he has reduced property taxes nearly a half dozen times during his tenure. However, an analysis by Spectrum News indicates that while the county's property tax rate did decrease five times under his leadership, the average property tax bills for Webb County residents actually increased during those years. Lynn Krebs, a research economist at the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University, explained that if property values rise at a higher percentage than the tax rate is reduced, tax bills will, on average, be higher. This phenomenon was observed in Webb County, where the property tax rate did not fall as much as the no-new-revenue rate declined in eight years, leading to higher tax revenues and increased property tax bills. 
