WESLACO – Property taxes are owed by more than 106,000 Cameron County property owners.

Some of these property owners are federal employees impacted by the government shutdown.

Cameron County Tax Assessor Tony Yzaguirre is proposing that Governor Greg Abbott declare a state of emergency and amend the tax code to exempt federal employees since, by law, he can’t extend the due date.

"There's nothing in the code, in the statute, that says, because there's a government shutdown, you're not going to add penalties and interest – that doesn't exist,” explains Yzaguirre.

If taxes are not paid by Jan. 31, property owners will have to pay seven percent more and it continues to increase by two percent every month.

KRGV’s Daisy Martinez has the details.

Watch the video above for the full story.