SAN ANTONIO – The Bexar County Commissioners Court unanimously voted on Tuesday to adopt a $2.8 billion budget for fiscal year 2024-2025.
Public safety, community policing and basic services were priorities of the budget.
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The property tax rate will remain at its current rate, marking the 30th consecutive year that the tax will rate will be maintained or lowered.
The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office will greatly benefit from the budget, with the addition of 41 new uniformed positions. Six of the positions will be assigned to the newly created Sheriff’s Top Offender Program (STOP) as part of the Public Safety Action Plan aimed to reduce the number of repeat violent offenders responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime in Bexar County. Also approved is one Crime Intelligence Analyst position, which will leverage data to analyze crime trends and offender behavior.
Each of the four precinct constables will see their forces increase with the addition of three deputy constable positions and a newly created deputy captain position. The additional deputies will provide traffic enforcement and address weight enforcement of commercial vehicles. All four of the elected constables will see a 6% salary increase.
The budget will provide $575,000 to operate two new Bexar County district courts and county courts-at-law, pending approval in the upcoming 89th Texas legislative session.
In an effort to limit employee turnover in Public Safety Emergency Dispatch Service, the budget will pay for salary raises for entry-level positions to $45,324 from $38,148, including differential pay from $2,400 to $4,200 annually for employees who work the evening and night shifts. Supervisory roles will also see an increase to $62,892 from $57,696.
The budget will fund 17 new jobs at the new Precinct 4 tax assessor-collector satellite office that will open in early 2025
A total of $95 million was earmarked for capital improvement projects, including $45 million for road projects and $6.8 million for two existing flood control projects. The budget will continue funding a 10-year, $620 million infrastructure program to include funding for creeks and trails.
Also included in the budget was a 3% salary increase for all non-uniform employees.
“This is a budget we can be proud of,” County Judge Peter Sakai said. “We focused on public safety and this budget reflects our commitment to one of my top priorities.”