San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones is asking business, foundation and philanthropic leaders to step in with multi-year funding commitments for a list of local organizations as the city faces what she described as an estimated $158 million gap in its FY 2027 budget.
In a letter dated July 24, 2026, Ortiz Jones wrote that many organizations “have received financial support from city taxpayers via the city’s General Fund,” but said, “the economic environment has changed.”
She asked recipients to consider “a three-year funding commitment” for the listed entities that “matches or exceeds what the City of San Antonio (COSA) contributed” in FY 2026, with funding beginning in FY 2027.
Ortiz Jones asked interested groups to contact her chief of staff, Andrew Fuentes, at andrew.fuentes@sanantonio.gov by Aug. 21, 2026.
The letter listed the following outside agency contracts and City of San Antonio General Fund FY 2026 budget amounts:
Avenida Guadalupe Association, $142,000.BioMed SA, $100,000.Diez y Seis de Septiembre Commission, $40,000.DreamVoice, LLC (Produces DreamWeek), $175,000.LiftFund, $500,000.Local Initiatives Support Corporation, $250,000.San Antonio Book Festival, $150,000. The letter noted the festival also receives $97,725 in Hotel Occupancy Tax.San Antonio Botanical Garden, $1,080,000.San Antonio Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission, $300,000. The letter noted the commission organizes the MLK March.San Antonio Education Partnership Scholarship & Outreach Program, $2,477,814.San Antonio Parks Foundation, $125,000.SAWS, Plumbers to People and Laterals to People Programs, $750,000.Siclóvia, $80,000.Supply SA, $200,000.U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Hiring our Heroes (Program to connect veterans, military spouses, and transitioning service members to employment), $150,000.
It remains unclear how cuts would disrupt service to these programs, or if any of these programs are at risk of termination due to the budget gap.