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The San Antonio City Council passed its largest budget in the city’s history — more than $3.7 billion — on Thursday in a 10-0-1 vote.
The final days of budget discussion focused on what started as 66 potential amendments that came from $20 million in unexpected revenue from CPS Energy.
In its adoption vote, the council approved 25 amendments, with funding for a mental health team known as SA CORE, a reproductive justice fund, and store front for Animal Care Services spay and neutering among other initiatives.
Councilman Marc Whyte was the only abstention over objections regarding the support for reproductive health.
San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg described the budget as "back to basics" when infrastructure investment and public safety spending is considered.
“But it’s also one I think we can be proud of in the sense that it is within the reality that people are feeling a lot of burden in terms of housing cost,” he said. “We are rolling back the tax rate for the second year in a row [and] increasing the homestead exemption, so we’re conscious of being good stewards of the taxpayer dollar.”
Among the most significant increases in the budget are 105 police officers, more than 30 personnel in the fire department, and a 26% increase in the Animal Care Services budget to address responses to critical calls regarding dangerous animals.
Other funding amendments added over the last week using the $20 million split between the 2024 and 2025 budgets include:
- Expand 3 SA Core Teams to 24/7 — $7.2 million
- Ballistic glass for police vehicles — $1.75 million
- 100 flashing stop signs in key accident locations — $300,000
- Direct support for Diabetes Continuum - Insulin Cost-share program — $200,000
- Morgan's Wonderland Inclusion Foundation — $950,000
- Opportunity Home Accessibility and Operations fund to provide key minor maintenance needs for public housing residents — $1 million
- Animal Care Services storefront for spay and neuter surgeries — $2 million
The additional money comes from CPS Energy receiving larger than anticipated revenue from "off-system sales," which is when the utility sells excess energy into the ERCOT market. The city received about $17 million from its share of the revenue generated.
Budget discussions over the last week were not without contention among members, primarily on $500,000 allocated for a reproductive justice fund that would provide comprehensive reproductive health care.
However, that fueled disapproval from Whyte, who questioned the legality of the money potentially going to organizations that provide support for abortions. The ending of Roe v. Wade and new Texas laws preventing abortion after a certain period of time left women with limited options for seeking the service.
“This cannot be about my personal beliefs about abortion, and it can’t be about your personal beliefs about abortion. This has to be about what is the appropriate way to use the San Antonio residents' hard-earned money. That is what this is about today, and I don’t believe that they want us to use their money to fund abortion,” he said.
Whyte had attempted to restrict use of the fund to prohibit supporting any organization that provides transportation to out-of-state abortion services in one motion to amend the budget and a second motion to remove it from the budget and voted on separately. Both of those measures failed.
District 7 Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito said the money is meant to support nonprofits.
“The intent of this funding is to give women who sometimes have little to no options an opportunity to make the best decision possible regarding their own health,” she said. “We are saying we will be supporting nonprofits who will be focused on women’s reproductive health, not us directly funding out of state travel funds, that’s a discussion for later.”
Earlier this week, City Attorney Andy Segovia was asked if the city could be subject to legal liability for the fund. His said that while there was no criminal liability, civil suits couldn’t be entirely ruled out.
The 2024 city budget takes effect on Oct. 1, 2023.
