The homestead is not the only check in the building.

Stop trapping tax growth in the Pearl and eight other zones.

In FY2025 the City captured about $45 million — 5% of $819 million in levied property tax — inside nine TIRZes. Midtown sits on $2.6 billion of taxable value against a $533 million 2008 base and throws off nearly $10 million a year. City-initiated zones take 100% of the city’s increment. Recapture is a participation cut on the unpledged slice — not a raid on Houston Street ballpark bonds, and not the 2060 extension (that money returns after 2041). A $12M/year take is 27% of the FY25 capture.

Who pays

Nobody new. The increment already exists — it is trapped.

Constraint

Cannot break increment already pledged to TIRZ bonds or signed 311.010(b) reimbursements. Can amend the financing plan (§ 311.011) to cut city participation on the unpledged remainder, refuse extra-territorial spends (arena land, zoo gorilla), refuse the Midtown 2060 extension, and let Mission Drive-In sunset in FY2028. See the TIRZ page for the formula.

Airlines pay for airport cops, not the homestead.

The General Fund is being asked to academy-train 27 officers for a terminal that is an enterprise. The all-funds airport budget is $185.9 million and is already driving 6.3% of the year-over-year citywide increase via the $2.5 billion redevelopment. Loaded cost at the proposed SAPD average is about $229k per officer, ~$6.2M when ramped. Shift it. Neighborhood patrol still gets nothing in this budget; the airport should not jump the line on the tax rate.

Who pays

Airlines and passengers, via the $185.9M Airport Fund — not the homestead.

Constraint

Airport enterprise funds and passenger facility charges routinely cover airport public safety in peer cities. 27 of 49 “new” SAPD slots are for Terminal C (opens FY28). Training hits GF in FY27.

Keep the utility windfall. Not a higher electric bill if off-system holds.

FY26 CPS is running ~$559M against a $504.4M budget because of off-system sales. The proposal then assumes a drop. If the windfall is real, bank it as a two-year floor instead of letting it walk and replacing it with a homestead increase. If off-system sales vanish, this lever fails — which is why it is a floor, not a fantasy.

Who pays

Not a retail rate hike if the dollars come from off-system sales, the same source as this year’s $54.6M beat.

Constraint

City owns CPS. The ~14% return on gross gas and electric is a policy, not a law of physics. A floor at the FY26 estimated $559M vs the FY27 book of $547.8M is $11.2M. Weather risk remains — that is what the 15% reserve is for.

Don’t put the Spurs arena on the tax-rate credit card.

Jones wanted a November vote on the $489M. Kaur, Viagran, Gavito, Gonzalez, Spears, and Whyte said no. Meanwhile the Midtown TIRZ is being lined up to buy the arena site several blocks outside its map. 2027 bond capacity is already down to $450M from $625M. A conservative $8M/year I&S and operating avoidance is what you get from not adding a sports district to a General Fund that cannot staff the last bond.

Who pays

The Spurs’ $1B+ private stack, county HOT already voted, and a smaller 2027 bond.

Constraint

The $489M city slice is capital, not this year’s GF. It still shows up: I&S (debt) is part of the $0.56288 total rate, TIRZ extensions buy the land, and new district facilities become GF payroll the day they open. Shrinking the city cash and killing the Midtown-for-arena-land play lowers the rate without touching M&O.

Voters already paid this 1/8¢. New purpose needs a new vote.

The City collected $235.8M. About $123.8M remains. Jones said winding down at year-end frees ~$100M. Progressives on the dais will not kill Nirenberg’s program to patch Walsh’s two-year close. If it is used at all, cap it at $50M over two years and pair it with recurring levers — or you have bought 24 months.

Who pays

Nobody new. Voters already paid a 1/8¢ sales tax. The question is purpose.

Constraint

Redirecting the ~$100–$124M remainder for new purposes requires voter approval under the 2020 proposition. Jones has also said some dollars can backfill existing GF literacy, after-school, and job-training lines without a new election. City Attorney has to frame lawful uses. This is not recurring and must not be used to hide FY2029.

Stop writing new incentive checks while claiming poverty.

The proposed GF still funds a $5.6M incentive pot while claiming poverty. A pause does not close $158M alone. It stops digging. Every new abatement is a decision to grow someone else’s base slower than the Fire contract.

Who pays

Firms that would have received a check. Not households.

Constraint

Existing contracts stay. A 24-month pause on new 380 agreements and a sweep of the Economic Development Incentive Fund is a Council policy vote. Does not claw back signed deals.

Leave vacancies empty. The police contract is unsigned.

The proposal already harvests $9.1M from SAPD/SAFD overtime while adding 49 police slots and nine firefighters. The next $8M/year is schedule discipline and leaving civilian vacancies empty — on top of 101 positions already deleted. This is not defunding. It is not hiring ahead of a contract the City has not signed.

Who pays

Idle capacity, not residents. No layoff required if vacancies stay vacant.

Constraint

Management right. SAPOA contract expires September 30 — the day before FY27.

Make the airport and trash collection pay their own admin.

Solid Waste is $171.6M. Airport $185.9M. Development Services $54.1M. Each already leans on the General Fund for 311, legal, IT, fleet, and police. A true-up of $7M/year is smaller than one month of SAPD. It is how you stop using the property tax to discount airline operations.

Who pays

Airport, solid waste, development services, parking — users of those systems.

Constraint

Cost-allocation plans are standard. Over-shift is a finding in an audit, not a crime. Under-shift is a hidden homestead subsidy.

If they sell tickets, they cover their cops.

The City spends about $3 million a year on Fiesta. Staff’s plan recovers an extra $710,800 — half the police tab at major events. Jones said organizations that charge admission should shoulder more, and that $700k is “just one event.” The remaining half, plus the rest of the admission-event list she asked for, is the unused $1.5M/year. Small against $158M. It is the principle the homestead increase violates: users first.

Who pays

Fiesta organizers and other admission events — not the homestead.

Constraint

Cost recovery from organizers is a Council policy. The trial budget recovers about $700k more toward 50% of Fiesta-related city cost. Jones told staff to list every subsidized revenue-generating entity.

Don’t grow the rainy-day fund in the same ordinance that raises the rate.

San Antonio Report, covering the August 13 plan, described a larger cash reserve — 15% plus $48 million — to cushion future dips. Credit is still AAA / AAA / AA+. Building extra cash in the same ordinance that raises the homestead rate is an inversion: they are asking this year’s households to pre-fund a cushion. Spend the extra $48M on the two-year close, keep the 15%, and put recurring TIRZ/CPS/airport dollars under FY2029. Do not pretend the reserve is a structural fix.

Who pays

Prior-year collections already in the bank. Not a new household bill.

Constraint

Policy is 15%. Rating agencies watch that floor. Drawing the extra $48M above it is one-time, does not touch the 15%, and does not fix FY2029. Using it to avoid a rate increase is a choice the ordinance can make.

The Book Festival is 4% of the hole. Jones already asked. Nobody paid.

Fifteen organizations received $6.5 million in the current budget, including the Botanical Garden, Education Partnership, Avenida Guadalupe, BioMed SA, the Book Festival, Parks Foundation, and Síclovía. Jones asked the private sector to take them. As of August 24, no financial commitments. This is the sympathetic cut City Hall reached for first — and it is 4% of the two-year gap. The unused levers above are larger and do not require canceling the Book Festival.

Who pays

Foundations and firms — Jones asked; nobody wrote the check.

Constraint

Council can cut or condition the grants. It cannot force USAA, Valero, or a foundation to replace them. This is not a TIRZ. It is a press conference.