Bexar County Commissioners Court unanimously approved its $2.8 billion fiscal year 2025 budget Tuesday which includes funding for 53 law enforcement officers, two mental health counselors for the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office and pay increases for current and former county employees. 

The elected officials also gave themselves a 3% raise, bringing their pay to roughly $170,700 per year for the four commissioners and $205,000 per year for the county judge.

The budget uses the last of its unallocated federal coronavirus pandemic recovery funds to plug an $18.8 million hole in its general fund budget — rather than using it for new one-time expenses, as commissioners had previously discussed.

The county avoided serious cuts to services or increasing taxes this year, which is the 30th consecutive year the county has not increased taxes, but it will need to take a hard look at future budget shortfalls as federal recovery grants dry up, County Manager David Smith said at a budget meeting Monday.

It’s possible that other grants could be found to sustain those programs or room could be made in the county’s budget, he said. “Some of it is going to come down to policy decisions by the court: How many of those ARPA-funded programs continue in the future?”

If revenues don’t keep up with expenses, Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai said, “we either have to do a tax increase, or we’re going to have to make some cuts to the budget. Those are really hard decisions that will have to be made.”

In total, the 2025 budget is about 5% smaller than last year’s $2.95 billion budget due to decreased spending on capital projects and the winding down of federal pandemic relief. Smith recommended in July that the county not take on any new debt for several years, and instead use money it’s already borrowed to finish up capital projects that are currently in the works.

“We wanted to make sure that we tightened up the budget,” Sakai said. “Some capital improvement projects were postponed, we’re going to review capital improvement projects as they come up.”

Since the budget was proposed in August the county made roughly $4 million in general fund adjustments, decreasing the county’s ending balance while enhancing various programs throughout the county organization, including two new mental health counselors for the sheriff’s office.

“The sheriff made it real clear that the mental health needs of his officers [and] the issues of vicarious trauma are significant,” Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai said after the budget vote. “It should never be ignored. … We want the message to our law enforcement and any county employee [to be]: if you need help, please seek help.”

As of last month, the sheriff’s office’s staff psychologist position was vacant. It was unclear Tuesday afternoon if that position had been filled.

“Every budget is going to be a massive compromise,” Commissioner Grant Moody (Pct. 3) said. “This is not the budget that I would have written, but it’s not my decision to write the entire budget and it never will be.”

Moody said he appreciated the additional law enforcement positions — 41 patrol deputies and 12 constables — and the “fiscal restraint that’s being exemplified.”

Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar had initially requested 60 additional deputies.

“Believe me, we’re excited about 41 positions,” Salazar said Monday. “Super happy that we can expand out into some new patrol districts and really get those filled out. Right now, recruitment and retention are both on the upswing, and so I have all the faith in the world we’re gonna be able to fill those positions very quickly.”

This year the sheriff’s office has filled all of its patrol vacancies, and it’s getting closer to filling openings at the jail.

Commissioner Tommy Calvert (Pct. 4) has criticized the county for evenly dividing money for high-priority infrastructure projects between the precincts because the process wasn’t fair to historically underserved parts and populations of the county. Calvert called for a more equitable distribution of county dollars.

At first, Calvert declined to comment on the budget during the public vote. But he ultimately decided to chime in.

Housing insecurity, crime and workforce development — all priority issues for residents — stem from poverty, Calvert said. “We need to do more in this county to address [poverty]. … When we do nothing to address it, it will manifest itself in some way.”

Reporter Andrea Drusch contributed to this report.