SAN ANTONIO \u2013 The City of San Antonio faces a tricky budget year that could hit homeowners in their wallets.<\/p>\n
The city faces a $158 million budget deficit that it\u2019s trying to close over the next two years. Though council members won\u2019t vote on a budget until next month, city staff will present a draft version on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Amid the expected discussions about budget cuts and possible tax increase, there could also be multiple ballot measures in the mix. <\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a look at some of the major points in the web.<\/p>\n
Budget cuts<\/p>\n
No matter what else it does, the city will need to cut expenses to at least partially close a $158 million gap.<\/p>\n
Though the deficit isn\u2019t projected to actually hit until FY 2028, the city balances its budget over the course of two years and will start making course corrections in the upcoming FY 2027 budget.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to have to reduce our expenses, and it will have impacts,\u201d City Manager Erik Walsh told council members at a June 18 budget discussion.<\/p>\n
During the same meeting, city staff presented two possible routes for closing the deficit. The cut-heavy path would slash nearly $138 million over two years, along with more than 200 positions \u2014 many of them filled.<\/p>\n
Though it didn\u2019t lay out every specific program that might be cut, that path included department reorganizations, program reductions and keeping civilian pay flat as part of the measures.<\/p>\n
The City Council had already penciled in almost $10.7 million worth of cuts FY 2027 during last year\u2019s budget process, Budget Director Freddy Martinez told reporters most of those potential cuts, worth $21.4 million over two years, were still included in the $137.7 million plan. They include a $1 million reduction to the Minor Home Repair program or a $200,000 reduction in assistance to the San Antonio Botanical Garden.<\/p>\n
Staff\u2019s preferred option for closing the gap during the June 18 meeting, though, only had about $11.7 million worth of cuts in both FY 2027 and FY 2028 for a combined $23.4 million.<\/p>\n
However, it relied heavily on a politically difficult measure: raising the property tax.<\/p>\n
Tax increase?<\/p>\n
The city last raised its property in FY 1993, but city staff have suggested raising<\/a> it from its current level of 54.159 cents per $100 of valuation.<\/p>\n The city is generally only allowed to set a tax rate for its maintenance and operations that would bring in 3.5% more revenue from existing properties without getting voter approval. However, it can also tap into the unused \u201cincrement\u201d from recent years when it didn\u2019t take that full amount.<\/p>\n Using that increment and maxing out the property tax rate would cost the average homestead an additional $81 in city taxes, according to the city, though the 46% of homesteads with a senior or disabled tax freeze would be unaffected.<\/p>\n Some council members, like Marc Whyte (D10), have already come out dead set against the possibility of a tax hike.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a Band-Aid to get us through the next couple of years. It doesn\u2019t solve the problem,\u201d he said during the June 18 meeting.<\/p>\n Mayor\u2019s ideas<\/p>\n As the city staff prepares possible paths to balancing the budget, Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones has thrown out some ideas of her own to help address the gap.<\/p>\n Jones penned a letter to business, foundation and philanthropic leaders, which she posted on social media<\/a>, asking if they would consider helping fund a list of 15 outside agencies for the next three years, including the San Antonio Botanical Garden, the MLK Commission, or LiftFund. <\/p>\n Neither Jones\u2019 chief of staff nor a spokesman responded to text messages from KSAT on Monday on whether anyone had taken the mayor up on her request.<\/p>\n She has also called for the public to be able to vote on whether to divert voter-approved funding for the Ready to Work job training program toward \u201cqualified programs\u201d in hopes of freeing up money within the general fund for core services. <\/p>\n Jones called last week for a council discussion on whether to add the issue to the November ballot, which must be done by Aug. 17, but it has not yet been scheduled.<\/p>\n Father Jimmy Drennan, a member of the activist coalition COPS\/Metro Alliance and board member of the job training program it helped launch, Project QUEST, seemed to have critical words for both ideas.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know in talking with the city manager that we have the capacity within our city government \u2014 the city manager working with our City Council and our mayor, they can close this gap,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd again, not a single penny is needed to be removed from Ready to Work, nor do we have to eliminate any funding to our delegate agencies.\u201d<\/p>\n Spurs arena<\/p>\n Though it likely would not directly affect the city\u2019s budget talks, Jones has framed another issue against the backdrop of the city\u2019s budget troubles: whether to hold another vote on funding a new Spurs arena.<\/p>\n Bexar County voters approved the county\u2019s $311 million share of funding in November, but Jones has called for a separate vote on the city\u2019s $489 million share of funding. Though such an election isn\u2019t required, the city could choose to hold one anyway.<\/p>\n The city funding is proposed to come in the form of bonds backed by a variety of sources<\/a>, which either come with restrictions or rely on the project proceeding in the first place. That makes it unlikely to have an effect on the immediate budget crunch.<\/p>\n Jones also stressed to KSAT in a recent interview that she has \u201cnever\u201d said the proposed arena funding could close the budget gap.<\/p>\n However, she said \u201ctoday\u2019s finances\u201d inform how people think about major investments. <\/p>\n