SAN ANTONIO – This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
San Antonio City Council approved a $3.96 billion budget Thursday morning that, despite its record size, includes several belt-tightening measures.
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The council unanimously approved the spending plan for FY 2025. The fiscal year begins Oct. 1 and will run through September 2025.
“I think it underscores our commitment to remaining responsible, resourceful, resilient and a normal — I keep calling it a ‘normal’ — revenue year,” said City Manager Erik Walsh. “And that’s back to kind of our pre-pandemic days in terms of growth.”
However, budget writers have still included 65 more police officers, more homeless camp cleanups and more money for Animal Care Services.
The council simultaneously passed a new contract for San Antonio firefighters and paramedics, which includes raises totaling more than 21% over three years.
READ MORE: 5 things to know about City of San Antonio’s nearly $4 billion budget proposal
The budget is 5.8% larger than FY 2024′s $3.74 billion adopted budget and is broken into three parts:
- $1.67B - GENERAL FUND
- $860M - CAPITAL BUDGET
- $1.43B - RESTRICTED FUNDS
The city has tried to tackle a budget deficit by shifting or cutting tens of millions of dollars in spending. It will also raise numerous fees covering everything from Alamodome parking to false burglar and fire alarms on unpermitted systems, and ambulance rides to the hospital.
There is no change to the city’s property tax rate of 54.159 cents per $100 of valuation.
There were only minimal changes to the draft budget staff presented to the council on Aug. 15.
The city plans to cut half of the money it sends to VIA Metropolitan Transit and hike the EMS transport fees by $500 instead of $250 as a way to make room for the new fire union contract.
Council members discussed final budget tweaks on Wednesday night, but unlike recent years, when windfalls of CPS Energy money filled city coffers, there was only about $5 million available to spend over the next two years.
A pediatric dental clinic, discretionary infrastructure funding for council districts, and housing assistance funding made the cut. But, more than $20 million of other council spending asks were left on the table, including larger raises for city employees.
The city still faces a $3.5 million deficit in FY 2026.
However, council members are also considering dipping into a portion of CPS Energy revenue they had previously planned to set aside in an effort to blunt the effect of the next utility rate hike.
MORE FY 2025 BUDGET COVERAGE:
READ THE FULL, PROPOSED FY 2025 BUDGET ON THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO WEBSITE