The San Antonio City Council received a report on next year’s budget proposal at their Thursday meeting.
SAN ANTONIO — A proposed budget for 2026 was presented to San Antonio City Council members Thursday as city officials deal with a massive deficit caused by a drop in property taxes and other sources of revenue.
The city says the FY 2026 budget has a projected deficit in the General Fund of $21 million, while FY 2027 is expected to have a deficit of around $152 million. They say the city is experiencing an “irregular drop” in property values due to residents appealing their taxes and using their homestead exemptions.
The FY 2026 budget total $4.04 billion and is compromised of three parts, the General Fund, the Capital Program and Restricted Funds.
On Thursday, 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.
“We took a hard look at our current spending, making reductions with minimal impact to essential services, moving eligible operating expenses to the capital budget, and increasing fees and fines to add new revenue,” a description of the proposed budget says.
The General Fund, which supports the most basic city services, includes revenue from property taxes, sales tax and CPS Energy, as well as smaller city services like court fees, code violation fees and permit fees.
The proposed budget released by the city manager’s office includes several City Council priorities:
Affordable Housing
The proposed budget calls for $30.4 million to go toward afforable housing initiatives such as rental assistance, down payment assistance, producing and preserving affordable housing units and repairs on housing units.
Police
The FY 2026 budget is a 4.9 percent increase from the previous year. 53 new officer positions are recommended. 25 of those officers would be “proactive patrols,” which is part of an ongoing initiative of the city to maintain 60 percent of its officers as proactive.
Fire
The budget includes a 6.7 percent increase in spending for the fire department. The proposed budget calls for 12 new firefighters across two of the city’s busiest fire stations (10 and 21). It also calls for $1.4 million for a Fire Department Assessment and $291,000 for drones for situational awareness.
Animal Care Services
There is an expected 4 percent increase in spending for Animal Care Services. The department opened two new spay/neuter clinics this year on the east side and the west side. They expect to perform 41,459 surgeries, representing a 6.5 percent increase.
Parks and Recreation
A slight drop in funding is anticipated for Parks and Recreation next year.
FY 2026 will be the third year in a five-year plan to install shades over 61 playgrounds in 60 parks across the city. Next year, there is money to install 11 more shades over parks.
There is also money for maintenance at Normoyle Park, Denver Heights and the South San Community Center.
Infrastructure
A new “Capital Delivery Department” is being created using existing Public Works staff (188 positions). That department will look at large-scale projects like streets, drainage, parks and city facilities.
The department also will lead planning on future bond programs. They hope to deliver projects that are on time and meet public expectations. The capital budget is $1.1 billion, including $649 million for airport expansion and airport projects.
Public Works will continue to focus on maintaining infrastructure. $122 million is included for street projects, and $17 million is included for sidewalk projects.
Restricted Fund
The budget also has the “Restricted Fund” which includes airport, development services, solid waste, storm water and hotel occupancy tax. The airport projects take up $169 million of the operating budget.
The city is planning several public input sessions regarding the budget. For a full schedule of those meetings, click here.