The City of San Antonio’s proposed $2.8 billion budget for the 2019 fiscal year is about 6 percent larger than the 2018 budget, and increases funding for several city services including housing, transportation, parks, and public libraries.
Increased population and property values over the past year led to the swelling of the annual budget without requiring a property tax increase, according to the proposed budget presented by City Manager Sheryl Sculley to City Council on Thursday. The implementation of several 2017 municipal bond projects also accounts for a substantial increase in the City’s capital budget.
Data released to the Rivard Report by City staff shows the breakdown of proposed funding allocations by department and larger categories called “business areas,” which include public safety, streets and infrastructure, and parks and recreation.
The departments seeing the largest increases in funding from 2018 were Neighborhood and Housing Services, up 333 percent from 2018, and Transportation and Capital Improvements, which increased 25 percent over the previous year, according to the data.
In the graphic below, hover over each line to see the amount allocated for a city department by year.
The City’s proposed 2019 budget follows the previous years’ trends toward budget increases for Public Safety, Streets and Infrastructure, and Parks and Recreation.
The fiscal year 2019 proposal includes cuts to four City departments, including reducing from 2018 levels the budget for the City’s health department by $41,745, and for Center City Development and Operations department (CCDO), which was created in 2008 to facilitate neighborhood development downtown and in the surrounding neighborhoods, by over $300,000. The EastPoint office, which coordinates the Choice Neighborhood Initiatives (CNI) program in the East Side, will cease to be funded, according to the proposal.
The graphic below shows departments that have experienced decreases in funding since 2013.
The next fiscal year begins Oct. 1. City Council is expected to vote on the 2019 budget on Sept. 13. SA Speak Up, the City’s public engagement campaign, will host seven meetings to gather public feedback about the proposed budget.
