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San Antonio’s city budget could cross the $4 billion threshold for the first time next year, even as the city tries to fill in a yawning budget deficit.
City staff presented a draft spending plan for FY 2026 to council members Thursday morning. The entire $4.04 billion budget is a 2.2% increase over the $3.96 billion budget the previous council approved for the current fiscal year, ending on Sept. 30.
KSAT will livestream the council meeting in this article beginning at 9 a.m. Delays are possible; if there is not a livestream available, check back at a later time.
The city has been bracing for a budget deficit within its main checking account, the general fund, which covers services like police, fire, parks, the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, Animal Care Services and regular street maintenance.
However, it relies heavily on stalling property tax and slow-growing sales tax revenues, leading to expenses growing faster than revenues.
Staff had previously estimated the city faced a nearly $21 million deficit in FY 2026, which would explode to almost $152 million a year later.
Revised revenue projections have helped the picture a bit, and to help close the gap, staff have proposed nearly $111 million in cuts over three years and raising fines and fees over the next two years.
They also expect the city to hang onto a larger portion of CPS Energy revenue from selling electricity on the open market.
The city does not plan to raise the property tax rate.
Though the budget includes cutting 68 civilian positions, city staff say they will be able to shift 35 employees still in some of those roles to other jobs within the city.
The budget still includes new police police officers as the city continues a five-year plan to put another 360 patrol officers on the street. With the 25 patrol positions included in the budget proposal, the city would reach 190 of those positions.
Staff told council members that, as they developed the budget, they tried to protect essential and mandated services, minimize impacts to vulnerable populations and avoid long-term risks that could arise from budget changes.
FAST FACTS
Any comparisons to FY 2025 are based on the original, adopted budget:
- $1.69B General Fund — the city’s checking account, covering most basic services, increases 1.6% overall
- Big airport spending — airport expansion and other airport projects make up $649B of $1.1B capital budget, which is up almost 33%
- No property tax hike — city property tax rate stays flat at 54.159 cents per $100 of valuation
- Higher fees & permits— alarm permits and renewal fees, municipal court fines, and food inspection charges are among those expected to go up
- $111M in cuts over 3 years — general fund total spending reductions of $27.6M in current year, $33.1M in FY 2026, and $50.3M in FY 2027
- Less money for affordable housing — $30.4M in various funding to continue implementing the Strategic Housing Implementation Plan, instead of $36.5M in FY 2025
- Low-barrier homeless shelter stays open — a leased hotel operated by a local non-profit will remain open an extra year, but will use $4.8M in city funds instead of federal relief dollars
- 1,300 homeless camp cleanups — the city says it will increase how often it cleans up high-risk, recurring sites while cleaning any camp within 14 days of a 311 call
- New department for new construction — a new Capital Delivery Department will be spun off from Public Works, which will focus entirely on large-scale projects like streets, drainage, and parks, in hopes of getting projects done faster
- Street maintenance funding stays flat — $122.4M compared to $122M in FY 2025
- Shade structures at 11 parks — Year three of a five-year plan to put up shade structures at 61 playgrounds at 60 parks
- Jobs cut but no layoffs — the city plans to cut 68 positions, but says employees in the 35 still-filled roles will be moved to other open spots
- 53 new police officers – 28 to staff a new substation and 25 toward reaching proactive patrolling goals
- 12 new firefighters — for enhanced squads to address medical calls at two of the city’s busiest fire stations
- 2% raise for civilian employees — a downgrade from the original 3% projection
- 4% raise for SAPD officers — hits April 1 and is guaranteed by union contract
- 8% raise for firefighters — hits Oct. 1 and is guaranteed by union contract
- ACS spay/neuter surgeries up 6.5% — nearly 41,500 surgeries projected, in part through two new clinics that opened this year
- Critical ACS call response to hit 97% — the city has been trying to improve how many calls it responds to for issues like aggressive dogs, neglect, or animal cruelty since FY 2023, when it was responding to less than half
- Less money for delegate agencies — $19.9M from General Fund (not including workforce development) instead of $20.4M in FY 2025
This will be the first city budget cycle for more than half of the 11-member city council, whose final members were sworn in on June 18 following a runoff election.
Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones, Councilman Edward Mungia (D4), Councilman Ric Galvan (D6), Councilwoman Ivalis Meza Gonzalez (D8) and Councilwoman Misty Spears (D9) are all newly elected.
Leo Castillo-Anguiano is also serving as an interim council member while District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez is on parental leave.
You can read the full proposed budget below:
City of San Antonio FY 2026 Proposed Budget by Mason
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