How much could you save? First look at city’s property tax relief package
As part of early budget discussions for FY 2023, city staff presented city council on Wednesday with an array of recommended property tax relief measures that would increase several tax exemptions for homeowners and lower the tax rate for all property in the city - whether homes, apartments, or commercial.
Sky-high property appraisals could prompt a higher homestead exemption for SA homeowners
“You will note...that there will be tax relief this year. And so part of that discussion is how we handle the options that will be presented by staff,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg told council members at the beginning of a Wednesday budget meeting.
VIA prepares for first ART line, but lacks funding for a second corridor
Advanced Rapid Transit (ART) is essentially large buses, typically running in designated lanes. With a new bus arriving every 10 to 15 minutes, and riders paying before they get on, VIA officials say it offers the benefits of a rail line at a lower cost.
CI TEXAS ROUNDUP: New H-E-B on Walnut Ave. in New Braunfels set to open in spring; Laura Rummel wins special runoff election for Place 5 on Frisco City Council and more top news
Take a look at the top five trending stories across Community Impact Newspaper’s coverage areas in Texas as of March 28.
communityimpact.comGeorge Flagg's family asks Des Moines not to scrub name from parkway
George Flagg's family is asking the city to consider the late, former Des Moines City Council member's entire record before stripping his name from a city street.Driving the news: Flagg's three sons sent an email to six of the city's seven council members Wednesday, shortly after Axios first published an article about community efforts to rename George Flagg Parkway.Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Councilperson Indira Sheumaker was excluded from the mes
news.yahoo.comSan Antonio limits construction noise with ‘goodnight, goodnight construction site’ ordinance
The San Antonio City Council amended the city’s noise ordinances on Thursday to limit the hours during which construction crews can do any exterior building construction work, including demolition and excavation. The council also approved more stringent penalties for violations.
City posts final art plan online ahead of council discussion
The final draft of the Arts Master Plan has been posted online ahead of City Council review at a public work session on Tuesday at 3 p.m.The plan can be found by visiting www.sanmarcostx.gov/artsmaste[San Marcos, TX] [Hays County news] News San Marcos News, San Marcos Record [Texas State]
sanmarcosrecord.comSan Antonio’s 5-year, $1.2 billion bond program goes to the voters
City council approved the final, $1.2 billion list of bond projects Thursday, including: money for affordable housing, expanding the city’s greenway trail system, repairing failed streets, and building fire and police stations. It now goes to voters for approval during the May 7 election.
Council poised to put voter-approved job training program to work
In a presentation to council members, city staff laid out the basic structure of the program, which is expected to place put more than 28,000 people into either certification and degree programs and result in at least 15,728 people into “high-quality” jobs in in-demand fields.
CPS Energy’s Board of Trustees approves 3.85% rate increase
CPS Energy Board of Trustees unanimously approved a 3.85% rate increase Monday. They also approved a regulatory asset, or a fuel adjustment charge, which the utility says will recover $418 million in fuel costs from last February’s winter storm.
New Braunfels looks to streamline city processes by shifting review of some items from council to staff, commissions
City staff is evaluating which requests require council review and which can be handled by other officials, though rezoning requests will remain on the council agenda.
communityimpact.comCity slams ‘Ousted’ report on its code enforcement practices as ‘fundamentally flawed’
The report, “Ousted: The City of San Antonio’s Displacement of Residents through Code Enforcement Actions,” found 626 orders to vacate and orders to demolish occupied San Antonio homes between 2015 and 2020. Meanwhile, Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Austin issued only 16 orders between them.
San Antonians say mental health, housing, and infrastructure among best ways to spend pandemic relief money
In a Thursday presentation to council members, city staff showed the results of the various surveys, town hall meetings, and meetings with the Small Business Advocacy Commission from the previous months.
CPS Energy rate hike coming amid ‘trust crisis,’ council warns utility
The utility needs council’s support to institute a two-pronged approach to raising customers’ bills: a 3.85 percent increase to the base rates and a bump in the fuel adjustment charge. Combined, CPS officials say those changes would raise the average residential customer’s bill by about 3.3 percent - or $5.10 per month.
New, 20-year plan for San Antonio International Airport ‘clear for takeoff’
The “SDP,” as officials refer to it, provides a vision for the airport into 2040 that will accommodate expected growth. It calls for unifying the airport terminals, including a brand-new, third terminal; adding more gates; extending the largest runway to accommodate longer international flights; re-routing vehicle traffic; central passenger screening; and more parking.
San Antonio activists want parallel pilot programs for mental health responses - with, and without police
Having failed to keep police out of a new mental health response team the City of San Antonio will try out beginning next spring, activists want the city to at least give a civilian-centric model a try, too.
San Antonio City Council considers international airport expansion plan for ‘world-class’ facility
The city’s director of airports presented city council members with a a new Strategic Development Plan to expand the San Antonio International Airport’s capacity and turn it into a “world-class” facility.
‘Don’t want to give the Dist. 2 Councilman what he wants’: Business groups oppose expanding non-discrimination ordinance
Though they’re avoiding an all-out offensive, San Antonio business groups are resisting the idea of expanding the city’s non-discrimination ordinance commonly referred to simply as the NDO.
City Council shifts bond money to fund drainage, streets; several members want further cuts to trail system
San Antonio City Council members agreed Wednesday to tweak the city’s upcoming $1.2 billion bond program to send more money to basic infrastructure needs, though nearly half the council members still don’t think it’s enough.
City of San Antonio considers giving $30 million to thousands of CPS Energy, SAWS customers behind on their bills
The City of San Antonio is considering using a $30 million chunk of the federal money it received from the American Rescue Plan Act to help pay off or pay down the overdue utility bills of struggling San Antonio residents.