By Edmond Ortiz
Bexar County’s newly approved budget for Fiscal Year 2027 features some spending cuts, a flat property tax rate, a dip into reserve funds, and no pay raises for county employees as county leaders continue to grapple with a budget shortfall and other fiscal challenges.
What you should know
Commissioners Court voted 3-2 Sept. 15 to approve a total $2.6 billion budget, which contains a general operating fund budget of $964.2 million, a drop from the $1.03 billion adopted for the Fiscal Year 2026 budget, which ends Sept. 30.
Like their city of San Antonio counterparts, Bexar County leaders mulled severe cuts and using reserve funds to help address a $145 million budget deficit and recent revenue declines.
Unlike their San Antonio counterparts, county commissioners opted to not raise the property tax rate, which will stay at 29.9 cents per $100 valuation.
The county is shifting $20 million in revenue from its flood maintenance and operations tax rate to pad the daily maintenance and operations portion of its property tax rate, according to County Manager David Smith, who announced his intent to retire at year’s end.
The final budget contains 130 position modifications, fewer public health department cuts than what was recommended by county staff, three navigators for the county’s BiblioTech digital library, and an extra $250,000 for a review of flood control issues countywide.
County staff also got creative in continuing specific programs that have been supported by American Rescue Plan Act funding, the federal pandemic relief allocations that are to be spent by varying levels of governments by Dec. 31, 2026.
This results in redirected county funding for five preventative health division positions, including three additional case managers to aid domestic-violence survivors in the same department’s Safety Team Active Response program.
The county is also redirecting money for positions attached to the Specialized Multidisciplinary Alternate Response Team, which assists residents dealing with a mental health crisis.
On the whole, commissioners backed a plan to maintain support for 49 positions that have been funded by ARPA money. Additionally, the county will tap $68 million in surplus funds to further shrink the budget shortfall.
What they are saying
Some county leaders said they regret being unable to enact employee pay raises, but voiced relief that they could achieve a balanced budget, even with reserve funds, and keep from increasing property taxes or approving deeper budget cuts.’
Responding to some residents’ claims, Pct. 2 Commissioner Justin Rodriguez said elected officials declined pay raises. He also admitted this was the court’s toughest budget in the eight budget cycles that he has experienced.
Rodriguez also acknowledged that he and his colleagues will face more tough fiscal decisions down the road.
“It’s not a perfect budget, they never are, but I think this is the budget that we’ve had to build some consensus on in order to move forward and get the county moving in the right direction,” he added.
Commissioners Grant Moody and Tommy Calvert voted against the budget.Calvert said he wishes there had been more analysis of specific cuts, especially in the district attorney’s office.
Moody voiced worry that relying on reserve funds to close the budget deficit, and not going far enough on some decreases will force the county to confront more difficult fiscal challenges. He criticized colleagues for adding $4 million in last-minute spending, $2 million of which was above county staff recommendations.
“All of which contributes to our deficit and comes out of our reserves, and makes future Investments in public safety and public works, which we both know are required, more difficult,” Moody said. “Simply put, I believe more could have been done, and more should have been done within this budget to address the deficit.”
