SAN ANTONIO – How do you want taxpayer dollars to be spent? It’s a question we ask a lot and you can actually help decide San Antonio’s next budget.
The city of San Antonio’s eighth annual SASpeakUp survey on the budget is now open for residents.
You can share your ideas, share your opinions, and the feedback collected from the survey helps the mayor and the city council understand and prioritize the needs for the entire community.
Laura Mayes, Assistant Director of Communications & Engagement with the City of San Antonio joined Leading SA to explain the process and how you can have your voice heard.
“SASpeakUp is the easiest way to get involved with your city government. We know not everyone has the time to come on down to city council, attend town hall meetings, or go to any other public meeting. So we’ve made it easier than ever to participate with the city of San Antonio,” Mayes said.
It only takes a few minutes to complete, and you can even write in any comments you have for city leaders.
“Take a survey, sign up for a board or commission and check out what public meetings we have coming up. But the one thing we really want to highlight right now is that budget survey. It takes less than 5 minutes to complete and your priorities will be shared with the mayor and council as well as city staff as we crack the budget for the next year,” Mayes said.
The city has used past results from the surveys to help shape the budget and identify needs across our community.
" Your input means a lot to the city through that survey, even though it’s just three very brief questions we’re asking you to share with us. What’s most important to you? What is least important to you? And then also share any other open-ended comments. Just looking at the results from last year, our residents shared the streets, sidewalks and public health were some of their top priorities. So using public health as an example, last year the city made a record investment in public health for our community. And those investments have been continuing. So your voice really does matter. And when you speak up, your priorities will get the attention of the city council as well as our staff,” Mayes said.
The Survey results are even broken down to city council districts as well.
“While we look at all the citywide results, your council member will also receive an individual report that shows what their constituency is, and their priorities. So if you’re living in District two, for example, and you’ve spoken up about maybe it police or affordable housing. Streets and sidewalks, investments, you’ll see those comments broken down and those will be shared with your council member. And that goes for every district in our community as well,” Mayes said.
But hurry up, because there are only a few weeks left to have your voice heard.
“This survey will be open through June 30th. And again, you can visit as they speak at dot com or call two, one to take that survey. Those results will be compiled over the month of July. And then we’ll be sharing those with council and with city staff as we cross that budget. The city manager will propose a budget in August and then we’ll be back out to the community and want to hear from you again through a series of town hall meetings. And then the council will ultimately vote on a budget in September of this year, and then we’ll start our new fiscal year in October. So again, this budget is really a roadmap for our city services for the next year to participate, get involved,” Mayes said.