Tax Assessor Tony Yzaguirre Getting Tough with Delinquent Cameron County Taxpayers

Tony Yzaquirre with Rep. Oliveira

A decade ago or so, our son, Diego Lee Rot, was looking for a house.  Since he's able to make any sort of house repair, we decided on a plan: Drive around Brownsville looking for apparently unoccupied houses that appeared structurally sound, then check out the tax records for ownership, delinquent taxes, liens, etc.  

He eventually found a home on which the taxes had not been paid for nine years and we negotiated a deal with the owner, then living in a nursing home in West Hollywood, CA and paid the delinquent taxes, and, as the paperwork came back, filed the deed.

Diego Lee Rot

Our house search, though, uncovered several homes in Brownsville, 8-10 years delinquent in property taxes, not yet on the Linebarger law firm's lists for tax recovery.

It seemed odd to us that a county strapped for revenue would be so lax in tax collection.

Just this month, Tony Yzaguirre, Cameron County Tax Assessor-Collector has announced a tightening up in tax collection.

Yzaguirre announced that 350 businesses will be served with warrants to recover $1,037,800 in back taxes.

300 residential taxpayers, also delinquent in payment, swell the total delinquency in Cameron County to over $2.4 million, according to Yzaguirre:

“When some taxpayers don’t pay their fair share, it puts tremendous strain on local governments trying to provide police and fire protection, street maintenance, public schools and library services. It affects everyone,” he said.

Property tax bills are sent out each year on October 1, becoming delinquent, if not paid by April 1.