SAN ANTONIO – Facing a budget crunch amid flagging property and sales tax revenues, the San Antonio City Council still passed a $4.06 billion budget Thursday morning.
The spending plan, which passed unanimously, includes money for new San Antonio police patrol officers, though not as many as some council members wanted.
The property tax rate remains unchanged, but the budget also includes spending cuts as well as increased fees and fines to help deal with an estimated $173 million shortfall over the next two years in the city’s general fund.
The general fund covers services such as police, fire, parks, the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, Animal Care Services (ACS) and regular street maintenance.
“But we know 2027 is going to be — fiscal year 2027 — is going to be the harder one," District 6 Councilman Ric Galvan said.
As part of the vote, the council included $30.8 million worth of spending amendments over two years, including restoring $1 million to the Minor Home Repair Program, 15 additional SAPD patrol officers, new or additional funding for some non-profits and adding $750 on top of the planned 2% raises for city employees.
The spending is balanced out by spending reductions or fee increases that include raising the Parks Environmental Fee by $0.50, raising the vacant building registration fee by $150, and moving the AlamoPROMISE program funding under the sales tax-funded Ready to Work program.
District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte and District 9 Councilwoman Misty Spears made last-minute pushes to add even more police officers to the budget, but both proposals failed 4-7.
The city is entering the third year of a five-year plan to put 360 more patrol officers on the street in an effort to allow more time for proactive policing. The original budget proposal included only 25 new officers toward that purpose, but Whyte, Spears, and others had wanted to bump the number to 65, which had been the plan at one point.
“Backtracking on that promise is nothing short of government malpractice,” Whyte said.
The debate led to the tensest moment in the meeting. After Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones told Whyte his time had expired, the Northeast Side councilman continued to speak, leading the mayor to bang her gavel.
“Point of order. Your time is up, councilman. Please respect the body. Thank you,” Jones said in a raised voice.
In the end, the council settled on adding 40 new patrol officers, bringing the total number of additional patrol officers so far to 205.
The budget takes effect Oct. 1.
FAST FACTS
Any comparisons to Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 are based on the original, adopted budget:
- $1.69 billion general fund — the city’s checking account, covering most basic services, is 1.6% larger than the current year
- Big airport spending — airport expansion and other airport projects make up $649 million of a $1.15 billion capital budget, which is 34% larger than the current year
- No property tax hike — city property tax rate stays flat at 54.159 cents per $100 of valuation
- Higher fees & permits— alarm permits and renewal fees, parking tickets and food inspection fees are among those expected to go up
- $111 million in spending reductions over three years — cuts or moving expenses out of the general fund to the amount of $27.6 million in the current year, $33.1 million in FY 2026 and $50.3 million in FY 2027 (NOTE — numbers from before any shifts caused by budget amendments)
- Less money for affordable housing — $31.4 million in various funding to continue implementing the Strategic Housing Implementation Plan, instead of $36.5 million in FY 2025
- Low-barrier homeless shelter stays open — a leased hotel operated by a local nonprofit will remain open an extra year, but will use $4.8 million in city funds instead of federal relief dollars
- 1,300 homeless camp cleanups — the city said it will increase how often it cleans up high-risk, recurring sites while cleaning any camp within 14 days of a 311 call
- New department for new construction — a new Capital Delivery Department will be spun off from Public Works, which will focus entirely on large-scale projects like streets, drainage and parks, in hopes of getting projects done faster
- Street maintenance funding stays flat — $122.4 million compared to $122 million in FY 2025
- Less money for sidewalks — $17 million for sidewalks instead of $21.5 million in FY 2025, resulting in 7.9 fewer miles of new sidewalk and 4.7 fewer repaired miles
- Shade structures at 11 parks — Year three of a five-year plan to put up shade structures at 61 playgrounds at 60 parks
- Jobs cut but no layoffs — the city plans to cut 67 positions, but staff said employees in the 35 still-filled roles will be moved to other open spots
- 68 new police officers - 28 to staff a new substation and 40 toward reaching proactive patrolling goals
- 12 new firefighters — for enhanced squads to address medical calls at two of the city’s busiest fire stations
- 2% + $750 raise for civilian employees — would result in increases between 2.21% and 4%, depending on their pay level
- 4% raise for SAPD officers — hits April 1 and is guaranteed by union contract
- 8% raise for firefighters — hits Oct. 1 and is guaranteed by union contract
- ACS spay/neuter surgeries up 6.5% — nearly 41,500 surgeries projected, in part, through two new clinics that opened this year
- Critical ACS call response to hit 97% — the city has been trying to improve how many calls it responds to for issues like aggressive dogs, neglect, or animal cruelty since FY 2023, when it was responding to less than half
This is a developing story. Check back later for updates.