The overview
Discussions during the open houses focused on the cost of delivering services, how the city will budget without cutting key services, and investment in quality of life and public safety.
The proposed general fund for FY 2024-25 is $1.67 billion, which reflects a $36.6 million reduction of the general fund over two years. The proposed budget also increases property tax savings to $147 million, which is an increase of $50 million in two years.
City officials said revenues have dipped in the last year.
San Antonio has been challenged by slowing revenue growth; after COVID-19, revenues like sales tax and property tax grew back pretty fast, but that’s not happening this year, San Antonio Deputy City Manager Maria Villagomez said during the Aug. 29 open house. When you don’t have enough revenue coming in, then reductions are needed; fortunately, city officials were able to make reductions without affecting key services, Villagomez said.
If adopted, the proposed budget would be the 32nd consecutive year without city tax increases, according to city documents.
The details
During the Aug. 29 open house, city officials said the city’s budget prioritizes public safety and quality of life. The budget for public safety is set at $1 billion, which comprises 61% of the general fund. The proposed budget would invest $6.3 million to hire 65 police officers, $1.4 million to add an additional 15 firefighters and $15.4 million to complete the replacement of three fire stations.
The budget also earmarks $122 million for repair and maintenance of streets and sidewalks, a $6 million increase, allowing the city to complete 1,618 projects and maintain approximately 370 miles of roadway. The budget maintains a $21.5 million investment in sidewalks, which will allow for the construction of 28.9 miles of new sidewalks and 15.7 miles of repairs.
Another priority within the proposed budget is addressing homelessness. The proposed budget would directly invest $44.2 million into homeless services and a $35.5 million investment in affordable housing, including home rehabilitation, rental assistance and down payment assistance. City officials said the proposed budget continues the Strategic Housing Implementation Plan, resulting in 11,238 homes either built, under construction or in development during fiscal year 2024-25.
Additionally, the proposed budget will invest in city services related to animal care, like hiring 14 positions to address critical calls and 21 positions to operate two spay/neuter clinics. City officials said this investment will enable approximately 41,170 spay/neuter surgeries.
City officials also noted that San Antonio residents satisfied with city services have increased from 74% in 2022 to 87%.
By the numbers
Stay tuned
The San Antonio City Council will vote to adopt the budget on Sept. 19.
