The FY 2021 Proposed Budget Increases Police Budget by $8M

Over 23,000 residents – a city record! – participated in the 2021 City Budget Survey. Public health was ranked as the top priority amongst citizens and while the Metro Health proposed budget receives a 23% increase over the FY 2020 Adopted Budget ($3.6 million), the proposed police budget is still $8.1M greater than last year.

Below is information directly from the City of San Antonio press release we received yesterday afternoon.

The General Fund

The General Fund, the largest operating fund in the proposed budget, is $1.28 billion, which is a 0.4 percent increase over FY 2020. The increase is primarily due to compensation increases from the collective bargaining agreements with the police and fire unions. The General Fund includes $87 million in budget cuts over two years ($38 million in FY 2021 and $49 million in FY 2022). Below are the reductions for FY 2021:

1. Hiring freeze for most vacant positions, no pay increases for City employees, and other compensation adjustments saving $14 million
2. Reductions to the annual street maintenance budget saving $8 million
3. Suspension of economic development incentives saving $5.5 million
4. Reductions to the Police Department overtime budget of $3.4 million
5. Use of CARES Act funding for workforce development saving $2.2 million
6. Expiration of the City’s $1.7 million contributions to Hemisfair Park Area Redevelopment Corporation
7. Reduction of consultant services for the SA Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan saving $1.4 million
8. Reduction in travel, fuel contingency, and other operating expenses saving $1.6 million

COVID-19 Response and Recovery

Response to COVID-19 continues to be a key priority of the City. Many of the City’s departments like Metro Health, Fire, Neighborhood and Housing Services, Economic Development, and Human Services, have changed their focus to address the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and help San Antonio recover from its effects.

Public health ranked as the top priority by the approximately 23,000 participants in the SASpeakUp survey regarding the FY 2021 Budget. The Metro Health proposed budget receives a 23 percent increase over the FY 2020 Adopted Budget ($3.6 million), one the largest proportional increases of any department. (Side note: the largest increase is still the police budget.)

“The City of San Antonio continues its work through the $191 million Recovery and Resiliency Plan to build a San Antonio community that is stronger, healthier, and more resilient than before COVID-19,” said Walsh. “The four pillars of the Recovery and Resiliency Plan, which was funded with federal CARES Act dollars, are housing security, small business support, workforce training, and school digital inclusion.”

Strategic Investments

The Proposed Budget makes several strategic investments in key City Council and community priorities, including:

1. Violence Prevention: a new division in Metro Health with a total investment of $8.9 million, including $1.3 million in new funds and the transfer of 20 Crisis Response Team workers from SAPD to Metro Health
2. Affordable Housing: $25 million to assist residents at risk of displacement and facilitate the development of affordable housing
3. Homelessness and Mental Health: $1 million increase (total investment in the budget is $45.8milion). $560,000 will allow expanding the Homeless Outreach Team created through the recovery and resiliency plan resulting in 11 district outreach Teams (one per district and downtown). $500,000 is added for an alternative mental health response option
4. Healthy Food Access: $120,000 to add 12 healthy corner stores in Districts 1, 2, 4 and 7, while maintaining support for the 8 stores in District 3
5. Education: $1.1 million to AlamoPROMISE to provide college scholarships to Alamo Colleges students
6. Human Services and Workforce Development: $24.8 million for delegate agencies providing critical services to San Antonio residents

Redefining Policing with the Community

“We’ve heard from our residents that they want to redefine policing in our community. The proposed budget takes important steps to begin the process of redefining policing, while establishing a process towards long-term reforms,” Walsh continued. “Together with our residents, we will review foundational issues, set expectations, create opportunities for stakeholder input, identify funding and alternative response mechanisms and develop a new model for providing public safety and support for our community moving forward.”

The proposed budget reallocates $1.6 million from the San Antonio Police Department budget to accept a federal COPS grant and dedicate 25 new police officers to domestic violence prevention and intervention.Uniform employees will receive compensation increases consistent with collective bargaining agreements. Police officers will receive a 5-percent wage increase, and firefighters will receive a 2-percent wage increase and 1-percent lump sum payment.

Transportation

The Proposed Budget invests $102 million in street maintenance and $18 million in sidewalks, continuing the historic investments made in infrastructure in recent years. The Proposed Budget also creates a new Transportation Department which will be responsible for multimodal transportation planning, mobility, pedestrian and bicycle safety, and transportation demand management.

What’s next?

The City will host 10 virtual budget town hall meetings for residents to learn more about the proposed budget and provide their feedback.

Residents can tune in to the virtual town hall meetings live on the web by visiting www.sanantonio.gov/tvsa or on the City’s Facebook page. Residents can also watch on television channels: AT&T 99, Grande 20, Spectrum 21, and digital antenna 16.1, or listen live by dialing 210-207-5555 and selecting option 1 for English or option 2 for Spanish.

In addition, residents are invited to submit their budget questions in advance by calling 311, emailing saspeakup@sanantonio.gov, using #SASpeakUp on social media, or by texting their question and “SASpeakUp1” to 55000.