“I have grave concerns that municipalities across Texas have blatantly violated the law in an attempt to crank up people’s property taxes,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said. Bloomberg NewsRecently adopted property tax rate increases by four Texas cities may be in violation of a new state law that enforces a deadline for annual financial audits, state Attorney General Ken Paxton said on Thursday. He also requested documents related to their tax rate actions and audits. In the case of higher assessed property values, the actual tax rate could be lower to offset that growth. The western Texas city of Odessa, which began fiscal 2026 on Wednesday, posted its fiscal 2023 audit on EMMA last week.