City unveils 2017 bond details, including City Charter workaround

$850 million bond package up for vote in May 2017

SAN ANTONIO – The majority of the city’s proposed $850 million bond package is focused on improvements for streets, sidewalks and bridges.

Another $144 million would be devoted to drainage and flood control. Upgrades to city parks and facilities are also included. And for the first time, the city’s proposed bond package includes a neighborhood improvements category.

Part of the goal is to create more affordable housing, but the San Antonio City Charter doesn't allow bond dollars to be used for housing. Texas state law, however, does, if the city creates an urban renewal plan and uses its urban renewal agency to implement that plan.

"I think, you know, we as a community have been looking forward to the opportunity to do something innovative and to be more proactive,” Mayor Ivy Taylor said Wednesday.

If approved by voters, the city would use $20 million to focus on what it calls “distressed areas," which are places where homes or buildings are deemed dilapidated, hazardous, or unsanitary.

"That could be in the form of infrastructure improvements, sidewalks and streets and also making land ready and available for private development of affordable housing,” said Sheryl Sculley, San Antonio city manager.

The city would buy the land, tear down those distressed properties, clear the area and sell it to a developer tasked with creating affordable housing.

City staff has already identified 12 neighborhoods where they believe that kind of investment is needed.

You can find those 12 neighborhoods listed in the city’s 2017 bond presentation here.

The city will host a series of community bond committee meetings, where the committee will drill down specifics of the bond.

Those meetings are open to the public. To see the schedule, click here.

The 2017 bond election will be held next May. 

2017 City Bond Presentation 

Community Bond Committee Meetings Schedule 

List of Projects 


About the Author:

Myra Arthur is passionate about San Antonio and sharing its stories. She graduated high school in the Alamo City and always wanted to anchor and report in her hometown. Myra anchors KSAT News at 6:00 p.m. and hosts and reports for the streaming show, KSAT Explains. She joined KSAT in 2012 after anchoring and reporting in Waco and Corpus Christi.