Report: Lupe Valdez, the Democratic nominee for Texas governor, owes $12,000 in property taxes

May 24, 2018

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect a new statement from the Valdez campaign about the number of years Valdez had overdue property taxes. 

Lupe Valdez, who just this week secured the Democratic nomination for Texas governor, owes more than $12,000 in overdue property taxes from 2017, the Houston Chronicle reported Thursday. 

Valdez, the former Dallas County sheriff, owes money on seven properties in two counties, according to the Chronicle. The paper also reported that she has several omissions on an official financial-disclosure report, which fails to list a Dallas property that she owns and gives incorrect names for two companies. 

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Valdez’s campaign told the Chronicle that she is paying the taxes off in installments and has “an agreement with the counties” to pay off the money owed “in the coming months.” Valdez has reportedly been paying off the taxes with incremental monthly payments ranging from $100 to $500. 

“In previous years, she had made similar arrangements and fulfilled them,” campaign spokesman Juan Bautista Dominguez told The Texas Tribune. He also said Valdez plans to file amended financial statements to correct for some minor errors. 

Dominguez also blamed incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott, who Valdez will face in November’s election, for high property taxes in the state. 

“Under Greg Abbott’s failed leadership, property taxes are unpredictable and burdensome for Texans everywhere, including Sheriff Lupe Valdez,” Dominguez said, according to the Chronicle.  

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This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2018/05/24/report-lupe-valdez-democratic-nominee-governor-owes-12000-property-tax/.

The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

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