Annello & Hernandez Push for Tax Increase

In a vote that left a lot of people scratching their head yesterday, the El Paso City Council voted 6-2 against raising a tax on utilities. The proposed increase would have affected residential electric and gas rate payers.

Only two members of council voted to keep the tax in place in order to capture more revenue for the City of El Paso, City Reps Alexsandra Annello and Cassandra Hernandez.

Annello has been largely ineffective as a city rep, having had difficulty passing much of anything and usually ending up in the minority of most votes.

Hernandez is now facing talk of a recall and most of her votes will now likely face a higher level of scrutiny, which is why this vote on her part is so surprising. The backdrop of the petitioners has been partially centered around tax increases.

The duo on council are BFFs and argued that the vote was more about public safety, Annello going so far as to characterize the city's action yesterday as "irresponsible".

Had council voted in favor of the Hernandez-Anello plan it would have meant an increase to rate-payers.