EL PASO -- Home buyers in newly annexed areas of El Paso could be forced to pay additional taxes that would finance the construction of roads, fire stations and other essentials. Until now, those services had been subsidized by existing city taxpayers.

But as the City Council moves forward with plans to update its annexation rules, a movement to create public improvement districts on the western and eastern fringes of the city is gaining strength.

Homes and businesses in the district would be required to pay additional property taxes for a specific time to reimburse the city for providing police protection, parks and other services to areas that until recently were outside the city limits.

"We are not saying that we're going to definitely do this," East-Central city Rep. Emma Acosta said. "But we definitely are studying it as one of the funding mechanisms that helps us deliver the services to annexed areas without impacting the existing taxpayers."

Mayor John Cook is putting together a task force that would study several funding mechanisms. Public improvement districts were the only one specifically identified by city officials and developers.

Texas law has allowed municipalities to create this type of taxing district since 1987, and many cities have used this funding mechanism. But it mostly was to help existing neighborhoods make improvements, not to develop raw land.

Planners and urban developers said improvement districts have been successful throughout the country. Still, establishing them would require acceptance from the consumer, the city and -- more important -- the developers.

"Normally we see some reluctance from the builders when cities try to use public improvement districts because it means that they're going to have to sell homes in areas with higher taxes than the rest of the city," said Phillip Kolbe, a professor at the University of Texas at El Paso's Institute for Policy and Economic Development.

"And when it comes to the consumer, well, no one wants increased taxes. They get people angry, although we may be talking just a couple of dollars a month on a mortgage payment."

Kolbe said improvement districts could be the fairest way to guarantee that those people benefiting from new roads, libraries and other services are the ones actually paying for them.

State law requires cities to use all revenue from an improvement district for projects within the district boundaries.

"So, yes, people could be a little unwilling to pay more taxes. But once they figure out that the money is going to pay for services they actually use, then the blow is softened," Kolbe said.

Conrad Conde is a private planner who represented developers and business people during annexation policy discussions last week. He said improvement districts would be an efficient way for the city to recoup money spent in developing recently annexed land.

But he stopped short of endorsing its adoption in El Paso and stressed the chamber of commerce's desire to keep annexation rules intact.

"There's a study from the city done in 2005 that says that the additional residential tax base brought into the city through annexation is enough to pay for the services that need to be provided," Conde said.

Since 2005, the city has foregone most annexation fees, except for hookups to water and sewage.

The council earlier this year established "impact fees" that allow properties outside the city limits to pay for water and sewage hook-ups without the need to be annexed.

Conde said the city would do itself a disservice by making it harder and more expensive for people outside the city limits to be annexed.

"The most important factor is water and sewage, and they can already get that through impact fees," he said. "In a way, charging fees or taxes creates a disincentive for developers and homeowners. It could really stop the growth of El Paso on its tracks."

Conde said tougher or more expensive annexation rules could entice builders to move their developments to unincorporated El Paso County or even to what he deemed friendlier municipalities, such as Horizon City.

City officials, though, said it was premature to speak about the impact public improvement districts could have on development.

"The creation of a (district) would need to follow statutory requirements ... you would need to look at the nature of the proposed improvements, the boundaries of the district, the estimated cost of improvements and the method of assessment to pay for these improvements," said Julie Baldwin, a spokeswoman for the city's Planning Department. "How that applies to annexation, we have yet to see."