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The City of San Antonio is projected to be very near its revenue and expenses goals for Fiscal Year 2025, according to a Wednesday briefing from city leadership.
City staff briefed the city council on what’s called the Three Plus Nine Budget and Finance Report — a report given to the council after the first quarter of the fiscal year to update them on where the city’s finances stand.
City revenues and expenses in the first quarter were both better than anticipated, with revenues nearly $5 million ahead of the budget and expenses $4 million below the budget.
Despite that, the city is now projecting bringing in $1 million less revenue by the end of the fiscal year than anticipated. Expenses for the remainder of the year are projected to be the same as the city planned for.
That figure is likely to change as more data is collected.
The city’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget for the city’s General Fund — the pot of money that funds services like police and fire, libraries, code enforcement, and parks — is $1.67 billion. The city’s total budget for the year, which includes the Capital Program and Restricted Funds, is $3.96 billion.
Several city council members urged city staff to create funding contingency plans as numerous federal spending cuts and freezes have been ordered and proposed — 758 city employees are directly funded through federal grants.
One of those federally-funded areas is the San Antonio Police Department.
“My second question, of course, is the police and the federal grant funding that we get with the police,” District 3 Councilmember Phyllis Viagran said. “And what we're going to do if we do not get the money for the 50 new officers.”
City Manager Erik Walsh said the City of San Antonio has not yet been directly impacted by federal spending cuts, but that city staff are monitoring actions in Washington D.C.
“We have had no indication beyond the first round that everybody across the country got the email saying, ‘Hold all funding’ that got reversed 48 hours later,” Walsh said. “There's been no change from a financial standpoint. We're watching it. It is worrisome.”
He said most of those federally-funded city positions are in the Human Services Department — particularly the Head Start early childhood education program — and the Metropolitan Health District.
The City of San Antonio’s three largest sources of revenue for the General Fund are property taxes, the CPS Energy payment, and sales taxes.
Property tax revenues are projected to be around 5% higher than last year, sales tax revenues are projected to be around 3% higher than last year, and CPS Energy revenues are projected to be 6% higher than last year. If those projections are accurate, they will meet or slightly exceed the city’s expected revenue for the year.
The city's resident-facing budget survey is scheduled to be released on May 9. Walsh will present the city council with a proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget in August, and then the council will approve a new budget in September.
