The San Antonio City Council will again hear from city staff on a proposed budget that has a budget gap of up to $50 million dollars.
For that reason, city manager Sheryl Sculley and her team have been meeting with each city department and going over their programs to figure out how to close that gap.
Sculley says she will not reduce the most important city services to the public, including police and fire protection. That was also the request of city council members who outlined their priorities for the budget last month.
"My goal is to not reduce city services, following the council's priorities that they outlined June 25th at the annual goal-setting session,” said Sculley. “We're doing our best to provide the services at the least cost but I will have to recommend some reductions in this budget again."
She said over the past seven years, more than 1,000 city positions have been cut, and this year more opportunities to increase efficiencies will be needed. Changes in business practices will be made to simply make running the city less expensive, she said.
The public will not be kept out of the process on this round of budget talks. During a series of meetings, city staff members will give citizens the chance to tell them what they think about the outlined budget.
The meetings begin Aug. 12 and run until Aug. 28. The budget is slated for final adoption on Sept. 12.
Monday, August 12
· West Area: District 5 Senior Center, 2701 S. Presa St.
Tuesday, August 13
· North Area: Parkhills Baptist Church, 17747 San Pedro Ave.
Wednesday, August 14
· Northwest Area: St. Paul’s Community Center, 1201 Donaldson Ave.
Thursday, August 15
· Central Area: TriPoint YMCA Grantham Center, 3233 N. St. Mary’s St.
Tuesday, August 20
· Southeast Area: St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church, 1314 Fair Ave.
Wednesday, August 28 and Wednesday, September 4
· City Council Chambers, 114 W. Commerce St.
