San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones at a Feb. 12, 2026, City Council meeting.
Katina Zentz/San Antonio Express-News
Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones has asked local business and philanthropic leaders to financially support organizations that have counted on city dollars to trim a little from the city’s nearly $160 million deficit over the next two years.
It’s the second such proposal Jones unveiled this week to cut city spending without affecting city services. On Tuesday, she suggested redirecting millions of sales tax dollars that were raised for the Ready to Work job-training program to other projects.
Article continues below this ad
Jones has said raising property taxes to generate more revenue is a “last resort.” City staff have proposed raising the tax rate from 54 cents per $100 of assessed property value to almost 58 cents.
Both of Jones’ proposals have taken City Hall by surprise, with the mayor announcing them via memo or letter — her preferred way of conducting city business.
Jones’ Friday letter is addressed broadly to “Business, Foundation, and Philanthropic Leaders.” Chief of Staff Andrew Fuentes has not responded to a request for the specific recipients.
Jones asks whether the leaders would consider “a three-year funding commitment” to match what the city gave 15 organizations this fiscal year.
Article continues below this ad
The organizations received a combined $6.5 million this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 31.
They include the San Antonio Botanical Garden, which Jones singled out during a June 18 budget briefing as an entity that should not receive city dollars at the expense of other services, such as city-run nutrition sites that provide free lunches to seniors.
“If you charge a ticket fee, then you can figure it out,” Jones said at that meeting.
The garden received nearly $1.1 million in this year’s general fund budget, which pays for city services such as fire and police protection, libraries, parks, and street maintenance and repairs.
Article continues below this ad
The nonprofit pushed back against the mayor’s comments, saying a funding cut would limit its ability to offer free or reduced-entry.
The biggest recipient listed in the mayor’s letter is the San Antonio Education Partnership’s scholarship and outreach program, which got $2.4 million this fiscal year. The nonprofit works to help low-income students graduate from college.
Other groups include the Avenida Guadalupe Association, BioMed SA, the San Antonio Parks Foundation, Síclovía and the San Antonio Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission, which organizes the annual MLK March.
City staff plan to present the mayor and City Council with the proposed 2026-27 budget and tax rate on Aug. 13. The council won’t adopt the final budget and tax rate until mid-September.
Article continues below this ad
City Attorney Andy Segovia said Thursday in a memo to Jones and council that her proposal to use Ready to Work funds on other initiatives could put the city at risk of getting sued. State law limits the sales tax collected for the program to job training, early childhood development, after-school programs, college scholarships and literacy programs, he said.
In other words, instead of tapping Ready to Work’s balance of about $120 million to cut into the projected budget deficit, the city could devote only a small fraction of the money to the effort.
But Jones said her idea, even with the limitations, was still worth pursuing. It’s unclear how much what she termed “qualified programs” are costing the city’s general fund.