Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones has asked city staff to identify programs that could be funded with Ready to Work dollars after she floated ending the program early to help cover the City of San Antonio’s $158 million budget gap.
It’s unclear if Jones has the support on City Council to put the issue in front of voters this year — at least four council members are strongly against the idea.
But in a Tuesday interview, Jones said city leaders should at least discuss the idea before contemplating a property tax increase.
“This is all in the interest of what I’ve said is my primary focus, which is not raising property taxes on people during this very difficult financial time,” Jones told the Report. “Re-examining the Ready to Work program and where dollars may be better spent in the interest of higher-priority programs and freeing up general funds, we owe it to our taxpayers, our neighbors, to do that.”
This week, Jones sent another memo to the City Council members she’ll need on her side, outlining a possible path forward for the reuse of Ready to Work funds.
“Our city attorney has confirmed that if the voters elected to, Ready to Work funds could potentially be used to pay for qualified programs currently paid for out of the general fund, services like literacy programs, afterschool programs and early childhood education,” Jones wrote.
Using Ready to Work funds for those programs would “free up general fund money for core services like public safety and drainage and helps to minimize potential budget cuts.”
Jones’ plan is to ultimately put the future of Ready to Work up to voters. She confirmed that to put the future of Ready to Work on the November ballot, a majority of council members would need to approve ballot language by Aug. 17.
Council opposition
There’s a strong contingent of council members that say they want to keep the program in place.
Councilmembers Sukh Kaur (D1), Phyllis Viagran (D3), Teri Castillo (D5) and Ivalis Meza Gonzalez (D8) have all said they don’t want to end the Ready to Work program early.
“We’re seeing it impact and uplift folks out of poverty, and it would be a very short-sighted solution to propose putting workforce development dollars back into the general fund for drainage infrastructure,” Castillo said after Jones’ pitch to end Ready to Work made waves last week.
Jones is not alone, though. City Council’s two conservatives, Misty Spears (D9) and Marc Whyte (D10), both agreed with the mayor’s idea.
Councilmembers Edward Mungia (D4) and Marina Alderete Gavito (D7) said they were open to discussing Jones’ proposal, but wanted to consider the long-term consequences of any decision.
Jalen McKee Rodriguez (D2) and Ric Galvan (D6) have not publicly taken a stance.
Jones would need six votes, including her own, to put the question to voters. She would need to find three more “yes” votes ahead of Aug. 17 to meet the November ballot deadline.
In Jones’ July 21 memo, she said ending the city-run program early could free up about $100 million to be used for other city programs and help cover the budget shortfall.
But that estimate depends on a November time frame — if City Council doesn’t put the issue on the upcoming midterms election ballot, the amount in potential savings goes down, Jones acknowledged.
Ready to Work was approved by 77% of voters in 2020 and used a one-eighth-cent sales tax to fund training, scholarships and job placement support for San Antonio residents. It was set to end in 2030.
When it started, it fell short of its initial goals and was criticized by some city leaders, but the program’s organizers have touted improved metrics this year.
Legal limitations
In response to Jones’ pitch, City Attorney Andy Segovia clarified that Ready to Work funds can only be used for limited purposes under state law.
Given those parameters, Jones said Tuesday she asked City Manager Erik Walsh to compile a list of programs that the funds could go to.
Jones said she was not sure when she would receive that list.
The mayor said it’s important to explore alternatives for workforce development, like programs at Alamo Colleges.
“What we have, as a community, to also ask ourselves is ‘how many times do we want to pay for the same thing?’” Jones said. “ … We have to challenge these assumptions.”
Supporters of Ready to Work have highlighted the program’s impact on low-income residents, particularly over the long-term.
Kaur and Viagran both said last week that if the concern is property taxes, long-term increases to San Antonio incomes from workforce development could actually help raise tax revenues in future years.
Castillo has seen the program’s impact among her Westside constituents.
“We’re seeing Ready to Work change lives,” she said.
Jones said if her proposal doesn’t have support, she’ll keep trying to find ways to bridge the budget deficit.
“It’s important that we look at as many ways to not cut services that would disproportionately impact our most vulnerable and not raise property taxes on folks when it’s not clear we have to do that,” she said.
