San Antonio council reviews proposed 2026 budget amendments including pay increases, parks fees and police staffing

City staff presented six proposed amendments to the City of San Antoniobudget during a Sept. 17 work session, with council members discussing options for funding raises, police hires and delegated-agency contracts ahead of final budget action.

The packet presented to councilors includes: a $750 base-salary adjustment for municipal employees (with discussion of a separate 2% scenario), restoration of $500,000 for traffic-signal and radar equipment, a proposal to add 15 new patrol officers (described in the presentation as bringing patrol staffing toward 40 officers in the near term), restoration of a $1,000,000 allocation for minor-repair programs, a one-time $3,000,000 allocation connected to the vacant-buildings program plus a funded code-enforcement position (presented as $95,000), and a proposed parks fee increase of $0.50 projected by staff to create additional general-fund capacity. Staff described the package as six total amendments that together would generate and reallocate roughly $11,000,000 to the general fund over the two-year budget window shown in the presentation and would include a $1,000,000 capital fund allocation for improvements.

Why it matters: council members said the proposals touch core municipal prioritiesemployee pay and recruitment, public safety and basic infrastructureand that choices made now could carry into the two-year budget and affect services next year. Several council members urged a larger police staffing increase and raised concerns about sustainability if recurring expenses outpace recurring revenues.

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