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Committee approves development of a framework to report city spending to local businesses
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Summary
The Governance Committee voted to have staff develop a standardized framework defining 'local' and reporting city spending to local businesses, with follow-up work to come through economic and workforce development channels.
On April 15, the San Antonio Governance Committee approved staff’s recommendation to develop a standardized reporting framework for tracking city expenditures that go to local businesses, aiming to make public investment and subcontracting more transparent.
Troy Elliott, the city’s chief financial officer, described the CCR’s goals: define what 'local' means for reporting, build a consistent citywide reporting framework for departmental and citywide expenditures (including grants, prime contracts and subcontracts), and use that data to identify gaps and inform workforce development and procurement policy. Elliott reviewed existing tools: a local-preference program tied to municipal boundaries that awards 10 points if a business is headquartered inside the city, 5 points for a significant local presence defined by at least 20% of employees located in San Antonio or 100 or more employees, and the SBEDA program that uses an eight-county metropolitan area definition for eligibility. He said some subcontract-level data gaps may require additional departmental reporting.
Jessica Velasios, speaking on behalf of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the proposal and said improved transparency about how public dollars reach local small businesses can highlight gaps and expand participation. The councilmember who filed the request also told the committee the CCR aims to give councilmembers regular updates on local spending so elected officials can make more informed procurement and economic-development decisions.
Councilmembers discussed whether the definition of 'local' should be limited to city limits or expanded to Bexar County; some members favored including Bexar County to capture businesses located just outside municipal boundaries. Elliott said staff will continue work with OMB, Economic Development and SupplySA and bring policy recommendations to the economic and workforce development committee for further consideration.
The committee voted to approve staff’s recommendation; staff will return with a proposed definition and reporting approach for council consideration.
