U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez and his wife defied property tax law for eight years by claiming two homestead exemptions

U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, waves to the crowd during the July Fourth parade in McAllen in 2017. (Credit: Douglas Young for The Texas Tribune)

U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, and his wife ran afoul of property tax law for at least eight years as each claimed homestead exemptions on properties they separately owned.

They fixed the issue last year, when his wife, Lorena Saenz Gonzalez, removed the homestead exemption on her property. But from 2014 to 2021, Hidalgo County records show that Vicente Gonzalez was claiming a homestead exemption on a property in McAllen valued this year at $527,054, while his wife was also claiming one on another property in the city valued this year at $287,131. That saved them at least $2,300 in property taxes on the second property, according to a Texas Tribune analysis.