San Antonio City Council passes $3.7 billion budget. Here are the highlights.

After lengthy and sometimes contentious debate over a proposed fund for women’s reproductive health, all members of San Antonio City Council — except one — signed off on the city’s $3.7 billion fiscal 2024 budget.

Here’s everything you need to know about the budget council approved Thursday.

Reproductive Justice Fund

Although the newly created fund constituted just $500,000 of the budget, no topic was discussed with more emotion, nor took up as much time at Thursday’s meeting.

Although it’s yet to be decided precisely how the fund will be used, District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo suggested it could help organizations that provide financial aid for women who need to leave the state to legally end a pregnancy. That sparked outrage among conservatives, including District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte.

Whyte held up the budget vote for a half hour as he tried to tack on an amendment that would exclude groups that offer help accessing abortions from accessing the fund. Ultimately, he and District 9’s John Courage were the only members to support that amendment.

Whyte wasn’t done yet, though. Moments before council cast a final vote on the budget, he motioned for the fund to be carved out and voted on separately. That too failed.

In the end, Whyte was the only member who didn’t vote in favor of passing the budget, instead opting to abstain.

San Antonio Police Department

SAPD’s $621.1 million in funding is an 8.5% increase from last year and the largest paid out in the department’s history. Some of that money will go toward the department’s San Antonio Community Outreach and Resilience Effort, also known as SA CORE, which response to mental-health crisis calls.

SA CORE has faced criticism for only responding to calls between 7 a.m. and 11.p.m. Some argue extended hours for the team could have spared the life of Melissa Perez, a woman with a history of mental illness who was shot and killed by three SAPD officers in June.

SAPD’s 2024 budget includes funding to allow SA CORE to operate 24/7, which observers hope will prevent future tragedies. It also includes funds for the department to hire an additional 105 officers next year.

Animal Care Services

A 26% funding increase for Animal Care Services was among the most talked about items in advance of Thursday’s vote. The increase comes as the department came under heavy scrutiny following a string of dangerous dog attacks, including one that led to the mauling death of an 81-year-old veteran.

A chunk of ACS’s new $26.9 million budget will go towards hiring 29 additional ACS officers. Eight of those new hires will receive specific training on how to handle critical-response calls, including dog bites.

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This article appears in Sep 6-19, 2023.