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The City of San Antonio is evaluating the possibility of a bond election next year. The consideration comes as the city may need to raise property tax rates and cut from the 2027 budget to settle an anticipated deficit.
San Antonio runs on a five-year bond cycle with the last packages in 2007, 2012, 2017, and 2022 all being approved by voters.
Bonds are split into multiple propositions. However, for 2027 several council members want the city to consider having bonds related to the sports and entertainment district as separate voting issues.
Designing the bond would take the better part of the next year to develop. The categories could be:
- Streets, bridges and sidewalks
- Drainage and flood control
- Parks
- Facilities
- Housing
The 2022 bond at $1.2 billion was the city’s largest and the first to include an affordable housing component. Based on conversations among council members, a 2027 bond is likely to include one as well.
As of April, the city had completed about 31% of bond projects in the 2022 package. About 34% are under construction, and the rest have not yet begun or are in the design phase. A handful of projects from the 2017 bond have not been completed.
The housing portion of the 2022 bond was $150 million. Veronica Garcia, director of the city’s Neighborhood and Housing Services Department, told the council more than 80% of that money has been allocated to different projects.
“Through the housing bond funds that we've awarded, we have supported over 5,200 homes that have been produced or preserved, including nearly 1,200 homes specifically set aside for the most vulnerable in our community, including families below 30% of the area median income,” she said.
On splitting projects related to the sports and entertainment district, District 4 Councilman Edward Mungia said he wanted voters to be able to have a clear view of what projects would be a part of it.
“There are things that may be right outside that district that you could say are part of it. I think we have to make a line and say, what investment are we asking voters to pay for goes into an entertainment district versus a traditional bond package that has other things in there,” he said.
That suggestion of the split got the support of council members Teri Castillo and Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, but city staff said a simple split may not be so simple due to legal requirements.
“What would have to happen is you would have a general streets proposition, and then you'd have a district streets proposition,” said Troy Elliot, the city’s chief financial officer. “You would have a drainage and flood control general proposition, then you'd have a district drainage proposition.”
That could create upwards of 10 propositions on the ballot. City Manager Erik Walsh warned propositions by location are not the norm.
“District or downtown or geography aside, the city, nor other cities, have typically geographically located a proposition,” he said.
In an interview with TPR, District 3 Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran, who represents the South Side, said splitting the propositions like that could create a mindset that pits downtown against other parts of the city.
“My concern is, when we put that much there, the voters might do an either-or. We can either give money downtown or give money to the north side, or ... because that's what my residents are going to think, (that) it's all going to go to the north side,” she said.
District 1 Councilwoman Sukh Kaur represents the majority of downtown and the near northside. She said any action to separate sports district propositions would need to be very clear.
“Are we going to take out streets and sidewalks in Lavaca? Because to me, that's separating out a neighborhood, but those streets and sidewalks need to be addressed with the sports entertainment district as well,” she said.
If the city does call for a bond election, a public vote would occur in either May or November 2027. That would be after the city makes its decisions on whether to do a general property tax rate increase for the city’s budget and what would need to be cut from the budget overall.
