Where the MUD Line Sits on a Far East El Paso Tax Bill, and Why Horizon City's Bill Looks Different

On a 2026 tax account for a home in Paseo del Este MUD #11, one line stands out. The district rate is $0.7984 per $100 of value, and it's the second-largest rate on the bill after the school district. A buyer comparing that house with one inside El Paso city limits can easily read it as a surcharge on top of everything an in-city owner pays.

Read the whole account, though, and one line is absent. The City of El Paso has no rate on it at all. The in-city home pays a city rate of $0.798. On these 2026 bills, the MUD rate sits about where the city rate would. A home in Horizon City that's also in a MUD is a different case, because its account carries both rates.

Three 2026 bills, one line at a time

Here are the adopted 2026 rates per $100 of taxable value on three real accounts in El Paso County. The first is a home inside the City of El Paso in EPISD. The second is a home in Paseo del Este MUD #11 in Socorro ISD. The third is a home in Horizon City in Clint ISD.

The county, EPCC and University Medical Center rates are the same on all three accounts, so the comparison comes down to the top three rows. The in-city home pays one rate there, $0.798 to the city. The Paseo del Este home pays the MUD's $0.7984 plus $0.10 to Emergency Services District #1, which adds up to $0.8984. Before school taxes, that's a gap of about a dime per $100, or roughly $100 a year for every $100,000 of taxable value.

The school row makes the gap even smaller. Socorro ISD's 2026 rate of $1.0505 is lower than EPISD's $1.0745. After school taxes, the full combined rates are 2.747124 and 2.670724, a difference of less than eight cents per $100.

We compare rates instead of bill totals on purpose. Homestead and other exemptions differ from one taxing unit to the next, so two homes with the same rate can get very different bills. The rate is the part a buyer can compare directly across addresses.

Why the city line is missing in Paseo del Este

The missing city rate comes from how the districts were set up. In 2002, El Paso City Council consented to the creation of Paseo del Este MUD Nos. 1 through 9 in the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction, the area outside city limits where the city still has some authority. A 2020 city agenda document describes the full Paseo del Este development as about 4,300 acres. Hunt Communities Group and its affiliates did most of the development, along with B&G/Sunrise Joint Venture. MUD No. 1 served as the master district that coordinated shared water, sewer and drainage facilities. The same document places MUD No. 9 north of I-10 and east of Loop 375 and lists Painted Desert at Mission Ridge and Morningside at Mission Ridge among its subdivisions.

El Paso Matters reported in 2023 that developers in the eastern part of the county set up MUDs to serve new neighborhoods outside city limits. The outlet counted at least 18 districts countywide, 10 of them tied to Paseo del Este developments. In a 2024 story about who pays for water and sewer expansion, El Paso Matters reported that Paseo del Este MUD customers pay a separate property tax that funds utility projects.

That's what a Paseo del Este owner pays for through the MUD rate: the water, sewer and drainage built for the neighborhood. An in-city owner pays the city rate for city services. The table shows that the two rates came out nearly identical in 2026.

Horizon City, where both rates appear on one bill

On the Horizon City account, the city rate and the MUD rate are both there. Horizon City's 2026 rate is $0.595788. The Horizon MUD line, which the account lists for the Horizon Regional MUD, adds $0.6628, and ESD #1 adds another $0.10. The Horizon Regional MUD publishes its own water rates and wastewater charges, so it's the utility behind that line.

The Horizon City subtotal before school taxes is 2.156812, compared with 1.596224 for the in-city El Paso home. That's a difference of about 56 cents per $100, or roughly $560 a year for every $100,000 of taxable value. It's more than five times the Paseo del Este gap. Clint ISD's 2026 rate of $1.0904 adds a little more, bringing the full combined rate to 3.247212.

The two far east accounts have something in common. Both pay the MUD and ESD #1, and neither pays the City of El Paso. They differ in one way that matters: the Horizon City home also pays a city rate.

A MUD rate isn't a single number, and it changes every year

Paseo del Este districts that share a name can still set different rates. MUD No. 10 adopted a 2026 rate of $0.6130 on Sept. 1, 2026. It's made up of $0.1744 for debt service, $0.1486 for maintenance and operations, and a $0.29 contract tax. MUD No. 11 adopted $0.7984 on Sept. 10, 2026. It's made up of $0.4487 for debt service, $0.0597 for maintenance and operations, and the same $0.29 contract tax.

The contract tax is the same in both districts, so the 18.5-cent difference between them comes almost entirely from debt service. That's the part of the rate that repays the bonds that paid for each district's infrastructure.

Rates also move from year to year, and they don't all move together. MUD #11's rate went from $0.7638 in 2025 to $0.7984 in 2026. Horizon City's rate went from $0.535368 to $0.595788. The Horizon MUD line shows $0.6628 for both years. The table above is a snapshot of tax year 2026. To compare two far east homes, use the adopted rates for the current year, not whatever rate a past listing or neighbor mentioned.

Where this comes up in a contract

Texas Water Code §49.452 requires a person who sells property in a covered district to give the buyer written notice, as set out in that section and §49.4521. The statute is posted on the Texas Legislature's site. In practice, the notice is often a buyer's first close look at the MUD rate, and it shows the MUD line by itself. It doesn't say which other taxing units apply to the property, so it can't show whether a city rate is also on the bill.

A buyer can check the full list of taxing units before making an offer:

1. Look up the address on the El Paso Central Appraisal District site and open the property's Truth in Taxation tax-rate page for tax year 2026.
2. List every taxing unit on the account, especially the city, the MUD, Emergency Services District #1 and the school district.
3. Do the same for every other house you're considering, and compare adopted rates line by line, not bill totals, since exemptions differ by taxing unit.
4. Find the MUD's own adopted rate order for the year. For Paseo del Este, the district site at pdemud1.gov links to its 2026 orders. Check how the rate splits among debt service, maintenance and the contract tax.

This post is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Please confirm the rates, exemptions and disclosure requirements for any specific property with a tax professional, a real estate attorney or your lender.

Questions we hear about these bills

Does a MUD home always cost more in property taxes than an in-city home? It depends on what else is on the bill. On the 2026 accounts above, the Paseo del Este home's combined rate is less than eight cents per $100 higher than the in-city home's, because no City of El Paso rate applies. The Horizon City home's combined rate is about 58 cents higher, because it pays both a city rate and a MUD rate.

Why does the school district change the comparison? School rates are the largest single line on all three bills, and they differ by district. In 2026, Socorro ISD adopted $1.0505, EPISD $1.0745 and Clint ISD $1.0904. Two houses a few miles apart can be in different school districts, and that difference shows up in the total.

Is the MUD rate on a far east listing still accurate? Only if it's for the current tax year. MUD #11's rate rose by about 3.5 cents per $100 between 2025 and 2026, and the districts set new rates each fall.

If you're comparing a home in a Paseo del Este MUD, one in Horizon City and one inside El Paso city limits, we'll pull the 2026 taxing units for each address and line them up side by side before you make an offer. Derek & DJ can do the same for sellers in these districts, so the MUD notice reaches your buyer along with the full set of tax lines. Call or text us for a free 15-minute market evaluation.