SAN ANTONIO – How will the city close its budget gap?
The new mayor and San Antonio City Council will get a look at a rough draft of the next city budget Thursday morning, about a month and a half after they were briefed about possible ways to close a growing budget deficit.
KSAT will livestream the council meeting in this article beginning at 9 a.m. Delays are possible; if there is not a livestream available, check back at a later time.
City staff are scheduled to brief council members on the FY 2026 budget Thursday morning at 9 a.m. The council is expected to vote on a final version of the spending plan on Sept. 18.
The city’s total adopted budget for the 2025 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, was a little under $4 billion.
The General Fund, which covers services like police, fire, parks, the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, Animal Care Services and regular street maintenance, makes up about $1.67 billion of that.
However, two of its biggest sources of revenue, property and sales tax, are growing much more slowly than the cost of providing those services.
The city previously estimated the 2026 fiscal year budget faced a nearly $21 million deficit, which would explode to almost $152 million a year later.
City staff warned council members in late June that to close that deficit, there would need to be budget cuts “no matter what we do.”
Council members have already indicated they do not want to consider raising property taxes.
This will be the first city budget cycle for more than half of the city council, whose final members were sworn in June 18 following a runoff election.
Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones, Councilman Edward Mungia (D4), Councilman Ric Galvan (D6), Councilwoman Ivalis Meza Gonzalez (D8), and Councilwoman Misty Spears (D9) are all newly elected.
Leo Castillo-Anguiano is also serving as an interim council member while District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez is on parental leave.
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