After approving San Antonio’s first property tax increase in three decades, members of City Council are finding themselves in the social media crosshairs of residents looking for a fall guy.
While some social media posters said they understand council’s reasoning behind the increase, others, including some on the dais, maintain more could have been done to spare homeowners the 3.9% tax increase.
On Thursday, council voted 7-4 to adopt a new $4.4 billion budget. Even though the budget included cuts to departments and higher fees, those who voted in favor said the tax increase also was necessary to avoid the city’s $158 million budget deficit.
Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones sided with District 7 Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito, District 9 Councilwoman Misty Spears, and District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte in opposing the tax increase, arguing that more could have been done to protect San Antonio taxpayers already facing a possible 33% San Antonio Water System rate hike.
“I respect the months of work City staff and colleagues put into this budget, but believe we had the opportunity to make further cuts before asking residents for more,” Alderete Gavito said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Jones, during council’s budget session on Wednesday, expressed dismay $2 million in subsidies to Fiesta, Siclovia and the Botanical Garden remained in the budget, even though other programs aimed at helping San Antonio’s most vulnerable were partially defunded.
“We just did not help ourselves in a way that I think helps explain to our neighbors that this is truly the last resort,” Jones said.
The fallout on social media platform X started soon after the vote.
X user @XXXSHAPIRION wrote that they look forward to “moving out of this shithole,” following council’s decision. Meanwhile, another X user referred to council members who voted for the tax hike as “fucking assholes.”
Others pledged to vote out anyone who approved the tax increase the next time they’re up for reelection.
Even so, District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo, who voted for Thursday’s tax increase, said in a statement that paying more in taxes was better than draconian cuts City Manager Erik Walsh would be required to make if council couldn’t balance the budget.
“Despite difficult financial conditions, District 5 residents said that an austerity budget was out of the question,” Castillo said. “The City responded by making meaningful investments in housing stability, community safety, reliable City services, and our civilian and first responder workers.”
If seven council members had been unable to come to a consensus on the property tax increase, then Walsh and his staff would have been required, under Texas state law, to balance the budget themselves with $75 million in spending cuts to city departments and services — which could have included eliminating the city’s 311 quality assurance team, cutting fire department overtime and slashing library operating hours.
District 6 residents told their councilman, Ric Galvan, during budget town halls that such cuts were off the table.
“They made their priorities clear,” Galvan said in a statement. “They want to see their tax dollars directly funding community safety, streets and sidewalks, parks and greenspaces, and quality social services. Those priorities steered my judgment in every facet of this year’s budget approval process.”
Of the seven members who voted in favor of the rate hike, only three — Galvan, District 4 Councilman Ed Mungia and District 8 Councilwoman Ivalis Meza Gonzalez — will be up for reelection in 2029. The remainder will be termed out.
Despite the public backlash, Walsh maintains the budget adopted Thursday was the best deal for San Antonians under the circumstances.
“Even in a challenging environment, this balanced budget is responsibly focused on our community’s top priorities,” Walsh said. “It reflects the sound financial management that our residents expect by making almost $90 million in careful reductions, protecting essential services, and continuing to invest in our community’s future.”
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