Everything’s bigger in Texas — including, apparently, municipal budgets. | Photo by @primapixvisuals
The San Antonio City Council approved a record $3.4 billion budget last week for the 2023 fiscal year.
Not only does the budget include record-breaking investments in infrastructure, bonds + public safety, but the budget itself is the first in city history to reach (and exceed) $3 billion.
There’s more here than we can cover in your daily five-minute scroll (additional resources below), so for now let’s talk broad strokes + highlights.
$1.51 billion: General Fund (not required to be accounted for in some other fund)
$1.25 billion: Restricted funds (limited for specific projects)
$641 million: Capital Budget (committed to city facilities + infrastructure)
Within the General Fund, the Council broke it down:
$904.7 million: Public safety (fire, police)
$116.5 million: Streets & infrastructure
$61.5 million: Parks & recreation
$424.3 million: Other
Highlight: Energy rebate
The $75 million surplus in revenue for CPS will return (in part) to residents as a ~$30 credit on their October bill. What remains will contribute to weatherization + assistance for low-income utility customers. Residents can opt out of the rebate to contribute directly to these programs.
Highlight: Community infrastructure
$138 million for streets, sidewalks, and bike facilities, $160 million of spending out of the 2022 bond program, $19.6 million in new parks, and 30 new airport positions supporting the new terminal contribute to the city’s “greatest investments ever in infrastructure.”
Highlight: City services
Entry-level pay for civilian employees will increase to $17.50 an hour. Police + fire will receive a smaller portion of the budget than ever before (still $28 million more than last year), with more resources diverted to alternative emergency services. For example, $1.2 million will support the SACore mental health response team, and $1.3 million will support homeless outreach + hotlines.
miniFEST San Antonio TX | Fri., Sept. 23 | 5 p.m. | Paper Tiger | $30 | Bridging The Music is hosting an evening of music, art + community in a festival-style atmosphere.
Wonderliners | Fri., Sept. 23 | 8-9:30 p.m. | The Blind Tiger Comedy Club, 902 NE I-410 Loop | $10 | Watch comics prepare their own takes on the same topic. 🗣
Hop’s Market | Fri., Sept. 23 | 6 p.m. | Hops & Hounds, 13838 Jones Maltsberger Rd. | Free entry | Bring your pup to enjoy local vendors + visits from SA Beer Festival and the Texas Organ Sharing Alliance. 🐾
Saturday
Monster-Con 2022 | Sat., Sept. 24 + Sun., Sept. 25 | 10 a.m. | Rolling Oaks Mall | Explore “San Antonio’s Biggest Little Horror Market” + meet up with genre authors + artists. 👻
Forest Therapy Walk | Sat., Sept. 24 + Sun., Sept. 25 | 9-11 a.m. | Woodlands Trail, Cibolo Nature Center | $20 | Experience “Forest Bathing,” a guided practice that helps connect you to the natural world.
Sunday
Warrior Queens: A History of African Women Warriors | Sun., Sept. 25 | 7-8:30 p.m. | Virtual | Donation | Learn about historical female leaders + warriors across Africa followed by a live Q&A with Melaneyes Media. 👑
We have amonthly guide filled with events + activities you can plan for in advance. Click the button below to bookmark ideas for upcoming date nights, family outings, and time with friends.
For tickets to local and regional events, check out our 6AM Tickets resale marketplace.*
Most robotic automation is complex and expensive, but Ally Robotics programming-free robots represent a step forward for affordable automation. | GIF provided by Ally Robotics
Did you know? Your next order at your favorite fast food restaurant could be cooked by an AI-powered robot.
That’s because Ally Robotics created a programming-free robot that learns by watching humans to solve the $300 billion fast food industry’s biggest problem:the labor shortage.
Now, they’re inviting San Antonians to invest in the growing business as these bots expand to other industries (think: construction and agriculture).
Invest by Thurs., Sept. 29 to get a piece of the (automated) pie.*
CPS Energy will add 180 megawatts of solar power (enough for 36,000 homes on a hot day) to its portfolio under a new deal. The agreement is part of the FlexPower Bundle initiative to diversify San Antonio’s power generation. ⚡️ (San Antonio Report)
Community
A city panel unanimously supported the protection of the Hughes House, a century-old home in Tobin Hill under threat of demolition. If the the landmark’s owner agrees, or if the City passes a resolution, the building would be safe as a local historic landmark. (San Antonio Report)
Show your support for local journalism by joining the SATXtoday membership program. Membership has some awesome perks like exclusive birthday deals, discounts from our online shop, Six & Main + more. Plus, 100% of membership funds help support our local editors — that’s me, Ivan.Learn more + sign up. 💻
Eat
Comfort Café will soft open its new downtown food truck location at 121 Starr St. on Tues., Sept. 27-Thurs., Sept. 29. The pay-what-you-can restaurant supports addiction recovery + education — a $15 donation is recommended for each meal.
A Yelp top 100 list for taco spots in the US placed Sangria on the Burg at No. 51. While we think they missed... ahem, a few, you can go ahead and take advantage of free tacos at participating restaurants — and help your favorite win $20,000 — by following the instructions at the link. (KSAT 12)
Edu
Notice more 20-somethings around town than usual? Texas A&M University-San Antonio surpassed 7,000 students enrolled for the first time in its history, and its graduate program grew by 40% for the current semester. (KSAT-12)
Outdoors
Tomorrow is National Public Lands Day, the largest single-day volunteer event for public lands + a national park “Fee-Free Day.” Hit the parks and help out — by helping pick up litter along the Alazan Creekway, for example.
Holiday
Sundown on Sunday marks the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. People who observe this holiday typically enjoy apples and honey in hopes of having a sweet new year. It runs until the evening of Tues., Sept. 27. Shana Tova! (That’s Hebrew for “Have a good year!“)
Shop
Time to feel the fall breeze + enjoy the autumn leaves with the Fall For Your City Sale happening now on Six & Main, SATXtoday’s online shop. Take 20% off the entire Fall For Your City Collection now through Sun., Sept. 25.
Wellness
There’s nothing worse than tossing and turning because you can’t fall asleep — especially when you have a big day coming up that you won’t be well-rested for. If you’re looking for a natural solution to help you fall asleep faster, sleep deeply + wake up refreshed, this supplement can help. Use code code 6AM for 20% off.*
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100 six-year projects — imagine the Alamodome under renovation till 2623. | Animation by SATXtoday team via Wikimedia Commons
When we talk about providing safety, relief, infrastructure, and wages for the No. 7 largest US city, numbers like “million” and “billion” get thrown around willy-nilly.
Take just one big ticket item in this year’s budget: the $35.3 million investment into a six-year Convention Center + Alamodome improvement program. That investment fits into the city’s total budget almost 100 times.
One more trivia tidbit to really drive it home. One million seconds is about 12 days. One billion seconds is 31 years. (One trillion is 31 thousand years — just in case you’re looking at any national budgets any time soon.)
THE WRAP
Today’s issue was written by Dayten.
Editor’s pick: I love talking about relative numbers + orders of magnitude. Just one more: one million $100 bills is about as tall as a chair. One billion is taller than the Burj Khalifa. One trillion goes to the ISS. Then back. Then halfway back again.
Missed yesterday’s newsletter? Celebrate the start of fall.
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