San Antonio Budget Transparency

The Mayor’s Letter Showed 13% of the Picture

San Antonio’s adopted budget shows that city funding for outside organizations extends far beyond the 15 programs identified in the mayor’s public appeal.

Written and researched by Patrick Von Dohlen • Candidate for Bexar County Judge

Last week, San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones sent an open letter to business and philanthropic leaders asking them to consider replacing $6.5 million in city funding for 15 organizations. The request was presented in response to the city’s reported $158 million budget shortfall.

I reviewed the City of San Antonio’s approximately 700-page FY2026 Adopted Budget. What the mayor’s letter disclosed represents only a fraction of what the city spends on outside organizations and programs each year.

The larger picture

Fifteen programs were highlighted. More than 175 outside organizations and programs appear in the adopted budget.

The budget documents at least four separate categories of outside spending. Based on the compiled inventory, the mayor’s letter covered approximately 13% of the total dollar value.

$6.5M Funding addressed in the mayor’s letter

15 Organizations and programs identified

175+ Outside organizations and program allocations in the budget

San Antonio city budget graphic stating that the mayor's letter showed 13 percent of the picture — Overview of the funding comparison compiled from the City of San Antonio FY2026 Adopted Budget.

Budget inventory

Four categories of outside spending

$20.8M

Outside Agency Contracts and Memberships

Approximately 56 line items. The mayor’s letter included only 15 items from this category.

$29.1M

Delegate Agencies

More than 80 allocations involving human services, homeless services and workforce development. Approximately $22.1 million is identified as General Fund spending.

$7.8M

Arts and Cultural Agencies

Forty organizations, five additional allocations and a reserve for future allocation. None appeared in the mayor’s letter.

$0.3M+

Zoo, Memberships and Other Items

Several additional items totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Graphic showing four categories of San Antonio outside agency spending — Four categories identified through a review of the city’s adopted budget.

Why this matters

The public appeal focused on the programs most likely to attract private donations.

The 15 organizations selected for the letter include some of the most publicly recognizable and sympathetic items in the budget: the Botanical Garden, the San Antonio Book Festival, the Parks Foundation, the Martin Luther King Jr. Commission and a veterans hiring program.

These may be worthy programs. However, they are also among the items most likely to generate replacement donations from businesses and philanthropic organizations.

The concern is not that the public was shown inaccurate items. The concern is that taxpayers were shown only a curated portion of a much larger spending picture.

Graphic comparing 6.5 million dollars for 15 programs with more than 175 outside organizations — The 15 programs represented approximately 13% of the compiled outside-funding total.

Not included in the appeal

What the mayor’s letter left off

The adopted budget contains numerous other outside contracts, allocations and reserves that were not presented in the public appeal.

Haven for Hope across six contracts $5.3M
Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council for emergency and mental-health response $3.9M
Free community-college tuition $2.6M
UT Health San Antonio for a new School of Public Health $2.0M
American Gateways for immigration legal services $150K
Unallocated reserve for future social programs $4.3M
Arts and cultural funding portfolio $7.8M

Graphic listing San Antonio budget expenditures left off the mayor's public letter — Examples of adopted-budget allocations that did not appear in the mayor’s public funding appeal.

Arts and cultural agencies

The arts portfolio alone exceeds the amount addressed in the mayor’s letter.

$7.8M

The adopted budget identifies funding for 40 arts and cultural organizations, additional arts allocations and a reserve for future allocation.

San Antonio Museum of Art $410,835
Opera San Antonio $249,336
Esperanza Peace and Justice Center $241,844

Graphic showing 7.8 million dollars in San Antonio arts and cultural agency funding — Arts and cultural funding identified in the FY2026 Adopted Budget.

Arts and Cultural Agency Funding schedule from pages 365 and 366 of the City of San Antonio FY2026 Adopted Budget — Exhibit: Arts and Cultural Agency Funding schedule, City of San Antonio FY2026 Adopted Budget, pages 365–366.

The right question

Should taxpayers receive the complete picture?

If the city is asking private businesses and residents to replace public funding during a structural deficit, the transparent approach would be to publish the complete list and allow the public to decide which organizations it wishes to support.

Instead, the mayor selected 15 items that were likely to generate public sympathy while approximately 160 other organizations and program allocations were left off the page.

This is not about whether every individual program is worthwhile. Many serve real community needs. The issue is transparency, prioritization and fiscal accountability during a $158 million budget shortfall.

San Antonio is one of the largest cities in the United States. Its taxpayers deserve to know whether funding more than 175 outside organizations and program allocations is sustainable during a structural deficit—and they deserve to see the entire picture rather than a curated excerpt.

Graphic stating that taxpayers deserve the full San Antonio budget picture rather than a curated excerpt — Taxpayers deserve a complete accounting of outside-agency spending.

Credit Where It Is Due

Mayor Jones deserves credit for bringing attention to this significant non-core spending issue. However, much of this spending structure was developed under the prior mayoral administration.

Former Mayor Ron Nirenberg is now seeking election as Bexar County Judge. Voters should examine the fiscal record created during his tenure before considering that promotion and its accompanying responsibilities.

Documentation

The complete inventory should be available to taxpayers.

I compiled a line-by-line inventory from the city’s own adopted budget because taxpayers have a right to see where their money goes—not only the portion selected for a public letter.

Primary Budget Source

City of San Antonio, FY2026 Adopted Budget. The Arts and Cultural Agency Funding schedule appears on pages 365–366. Additional outside-agency contracts, delegate-agency allocations and related spending appear elsewhere throughout the adopted budget.

Author: Patrick Von Dohlen
Research: Compiled from City of San Antonio budget documents and publicly reported information.

News Coverage

San Antonio Report article about the mayor's call for private funding of city-supported organizations

Screenshot of public reporting concerning the mayor’s funding request and the city’s projected budget gap.

Share the findings

Budget transparency graphic series

These graphics summarize the findings from the adopted-budget review.

The mayor's letter showed 13 percent of the picture — 1 of 6 — The 13% overview

6.5 million dollars for 15 programs compared with more than 175 outside organizations — 2 of 6 — Fifteen versus 175+

Four categories of San Antonio outside spending — 3 of 6 — Four spending categories

Budget allocations left off the mayor's letter — 4 of 6 — Items left off the letter

The 7.8 million dollar San Antonio arts portfolio — 5 of 6 — Arts and cultural funding

The right question concerning San Antonio budget transparency — 6 of 6 — The right question

Taxpayers deserve the full picture.

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