District 8 San Antonio City Councilwoman Ivalis Meza Gonzalez takes notes during a meeting. Credit: Facebook / Ivalis Meza Gonzalez for District 8

With debate over the city’s budget reaching a crescendo this week, District 8 Councilwoman Ivalis Meza Gonzales proposed an amendment that raised eyebrows among some City Hall staffers.

As the City of San Antonio considers raising property taxes to deal with a $158 million budget deficit, first-term councilwoman Meza Gonzalez suggested implementing a smaller tax increase. That amendment would ease the burden on homeowners, but critics warned that it would fall millions short of solving the problem.

City staff wants to raise residential property taxes by 2 cents per each $100 of a property’s assessed value to help tackle the city’s budget deficit. Instead, Meza Gonzalez proposed raising taxes by just 1 cent per $100 — an increase insufficient to solve the city’s current budget crisis, City Manager Erik Walsh told reporters.

Walsh said Meza Gonzalez’s amendment — the only one her office has proposed so far this budget cycle — is technically legal but unlikely to gain traction in the current belt-tightening environment.

“The council can’t make an amendment to the proposed budget to unbalance it,” Walsh said. “If they’re going to pull from the pot, they’ve got to pay for the pot.”

If Meza Gonzalez’s proposal gets enough votes, it will pass council, Walsh said. However, he added that the body would either have to adopt additional budget cuts to make up for the lowered revenue stream or allow the city manager to decide the cuts for them.

Meza Gonzalez’s amendment is the latest twist as council makes last-minute deliberations about how to address the city’s budget crisis.

Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones on Tuesday unveiled a plan that would reallocate funding to programs she deems necessary while slashing money elsewhere, including subsidies to the Ready to Work job-training program, Fiesta events and the San Antonio Book Festival.

Meanwhile, District 7 Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito, District 9 Councilwoman Misty Spears and District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte remain steadfast that they will vote against any plan that calls for a property tax increase.

If council doesn’t increase property taxes, it would be forced to cut city programs. The more than 50 funding reductions now on the table range from lowering the fire department’s overtime budget by $4 million to pulling money from a program that offers free plumbing repairs for low-income residents.

City Council has until this Thursday to decide whether to raise property taxes or let City Manager Erik Walsh make the necessary cuts to balance the budget.

Sign Up for SA Current newsletters.

Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed

​

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,...