El Paso Environmental Fee an Unauthorized Tax, Texas Court Says

The fee El Paso, Texas charges residents to repair road damage from its garbage trucks is actually an unlawful tax because the fee is excessive, a state court of appeals said.

In Texas, a city’s charge for services is an unlawful tax if the rate is unreasonable and unrelated to the city’s cost of providing the service. Testimony from El Paso officials that extra revenue from the city’s environmental franchise fee was set aside for other city costs clearly indicated an excessive rate, the Texas Court of Appeals, Eighth District, ruled Tuesday in affirming a trial court ruling.

“Evidence that ...