District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte garnered applause after opposing the property tax rate hike on Thursday. Credit: Michael Karlis

Editor’s note: This story was corrected to include the accurate percentage for the proposed tax increase.

In a rare moment of unity, the majority of San Antonio City Council appears to agree Thursday that the proposed budget thrown together by City Manager Erik Walsh is a nonstarter.

Tasked with figuring out a way to plug a hole in the city’s looming $130 million budget deficit, Walsh proposed raising property taxes by 3.5% — excluding homesteaders — while simultaneously increasing the city’s public safety budget by $80 million.

At the same time, Walsh strongly discouraged council from considering alternatives, including a plan that would prioritize restructuring City Hall by implementing a hiring freeze, eliminating vacant positions and temporarily eliminating city workers’ annual cost-of-living salary adjustment.

Outrage followed from the dais.

“We are still going to have a general fund deficit of $155 million in 2030,” said District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte, one of council’s two conservatives. “A property tax increase is just a Band-Aid to get us through the next couple of years. It doesn’t solve the problem. We’ve got a structural issue here with the way our city government is spending money.”

Whyte’s pushback drew applause from the gallery.

During his remarks, the councilman also said he believes there’s a way to increase public safety funding without raising property taxes.

However, Whyte’s suggestion to cut underutilized city programs met staunch resistance from District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo, both progressives whose districts include some of the city’s most economically disadvantaged neighborhoods.

“Councilman Whyte and I have a philosophical disagreement on this issue, and I want to convey something simple: if our revenues remained the same and every department stayed the same, the police and fire budget would grow because it is mandated by our collective bargaining agreement, even without new positions,” McKee-Rodriguez said.

Indeed, a significant chunk of the new public safety funding paid for by the property tax hike would go to increased healthcare benefits outlined in the city’s CBA with the fire and police unions negotiated by Walsh.​

The only member of the council who appeared to have no qualms with Walsh’s proposed property tax hike was District 3 Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran, who said that San Antonio’s working class is known for “hustle” and could manage to figure out how to live on a tighter budget.

“Nobody wants to raise taxes, I understand that everybody is stretched, me included. But, we have to prioritize, and we have to budget,” Viagran said.

Several council members, including District 9 Councilwoman Misty Spears, said they plan to host town halls next month to gather constituent feedback on the budget and bring it back to Walsh for consideration.

Council will vote on a final version of the budget in September.

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Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...