San Antonio council debates overhaul of nonprofit consolidated-funding process as federal grants face cuts

San Antonio Mayor Jones and city councilmembers spent much of a discussion session on Oct. 15 reviewing a proposed redesign of the city’s consolidated funding process and preparing for a tabletop exercise to model the local impact of potential federal grant reductions.

The presentation, led by Melanie of the city’s human-services team and Jessica from the same office, laid out proposed priorities for the fiscal 2026 consolidated fund, a timeline for a competitive request for proposals (RFP) and a set of policy changes intended to simplify grant administration and increase alignment with city priorities. Justin Azei, the city budget director, told the council the city currently receives about $153,000,000 in federal grants that support roughly 663 city-funded positions, and cautioned that reductions at the federal level could have cascading effects in San Antonio.

The proposal on the table would keep the existing priority percentages (for example, about 31% for children and youth, roughly 10% for senior independence and about 10% for homelessness prevention), create clearer categories for “designated” versus competitive funds, and set aside an approximately $4.26 million competitive pool for a new contracting cycle beginning June 1, 2026. Melanie told the council the consolidated pool for FY2026 is about $24.5 million in total, of which roughly $20 million has been delivered through delegated contracts to about 80 agencies, and…