SAN ANTONIO – Mayor Ron Nirenberg may have found a new home for a program to protect the Edwards Aquifer as he looks to redirect the tax dollars that fund it.
The city-managed Edwards Aquifer Protection Program is used to buy land around the aquifer.
However, the one-eighth of a cent sales tax that funds the program expires in 2021.
The mayor plans to ask the City Council to put a proposition on the ballot next November to use that same amount of tax money for transportation funding instead, which he views as critical for San Antonio.
To prepare for that, Nirenberg has asked the San Antonio Water System board to consider taking over the Aquifer Protection Program to fund and operate it.
“The path I outlined will not be a rate impact. It’s us ensuring that we’re taking care of the priorities of the public,” Nirenberg said.
There was no official vote at Tuesday night’s SAWS board meeting, but the board president promised further discussion and said the board will be looking and planning “very seriously” about taking over the program.