San Antonio is facing a significant budget deficit of $158 million over the next two years. To address this issue, the city is considering raising property taxes to the highest level allowed by law, which would result in an increase of about $81 per year for the average homeowner.

Proposed Budget Cuts

In addition to the proposed tax increase, the city is also considering various budget cuts, including delaying the hiring of new police officers, increasing city fees, and shifting more of the city’s Fiesta costs onto event organizers. The city’s public safety budget is expected to grow by $80 million over two years due to a changing collective bargaining agreement and rising general expenses.

City staff has proposed an array of potential fee increases to help bring in more revenue, including increasing a monthly parks and environmental fee on residents’ CPS Energy bills and charging people who don’t live in San Antonio city limits to use the libraries. The city is also considering passing down more Fiesta-related costs to partner organizations.

Variable Rate Debt Service

The city is also recommending moving to a variable rate debt service, which would allow them to increase the debt service rate as needed. This could bring the bond up to size and allow the city to move some projects it typically funds through the budget over to the capital program.

Original reporting: San Antonio Report — read the source article.