The Thursday approval by council came after weeks of workshops, town halls and tweaks to the draft budget while contending with a budget deficit.
SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio City Council came together to approve the Fiscal Year 2026 budget of more than $4 billion, adding more funds for the ongoing airport expansion and adding police officers to Alamo City streets.
The passing of the budget Thursday comes after 11 town hall meetings and two public hearings to collect feedback from San Antonio residents impacted by councilmembers’ decisions.
The city says the FY 2026 budget was expected to have a projected deficit in the General Fund of $21 million. Officials say that’s due to an “irregular drop” in property values due to residents appealing their taxes and using their homestead exemptions.
Back in August, City Manager Erik Walsh and his team presented a proposed FY 2026 budget to council members that accounts for the deficit while keeping many of the council’s priorities in place.
One of the top priorities includes addressing homelessness through the creation of the Homeless Services and Strategy Department, which will coordinate with community partners to assess and meet the needs of the unhoused population. Almost $5 million is being allocated for the extension of operations at the low-barrier shelter run by SAMMinistries for another year.
The amended budget also added 15 more police patrol officers than leaders previously planned for, increasing the number of uniformed SAPD personnel from 25 to 40.
Multiple council members expressed concern about the need for even more patrol officers.
“I believe that backtracking on the promise of 65 officers to our community, backtracking on that promise, is nothing short of government malpractice,” said District 10 Councilmember Marc Whyte. “It was recommended (referencing a consultant-performed study) that we add 360 officers over five years. The point is to move our police force where 60% are on proactive patrol time and 40% of our officers are responding to calls.”
City Manager Erik Walsh noted there’s the possibility of obtaining additional funding this year for more officers.
“We do have an outstanding grant request through the federal government that we won’t hear back until probably early November. We’ve gotten police officers through that grant two years in a row,” Walsh said.
Other notable allocations in the 2026 budget include $30.4 million for affordable housing initiatives, an expected 4% increase in spending for Animal Care Services, more than $100 million for street repairs and airport projects taking up $169 million of the operating budget.
Raising the fines for parking and traffic violations are among the methods for the city to address the projected budget shortfall of $173 million over two years.