The Civic

Toyota is investing $3.6 billion in its Southside campus. Truly the story of the moment: $3.6 billion total investment, a second assembly line, a 2.5 million-square-foot expansion, and an estimated 2,000 jobs by 2030. The project will push Toyota's total investment in San Antonio to $8.3 billion, when it was already among the largest companies in San Antonio by total investment.

San Antonio maintains an open data portal at data.sanantonio.gov. There are just over 160 datasets available, we think it doesn’t go far enough. Data can be arranged to tell you almost anything you want to hear. Here are some numbers for San Antonio, pulled from our new data dashboard: San Antonio is the most affordable city in its peer group, with prices five percent below the national average and more than seven points below the cities we compared.

The aquifer is climbing out of last year’s record lows, but the hard months are just starting. A year ago the Edwards Aquifer’s J-17 index well fell to 624 feet, within a dozen feet of its all-time low, and the Edwards Aquifer Authority declared Stage 5 pumping cuts for the first time in its history. After a wet spring, the well now sits at around 643 feet.

San Antonio and Austin as seen from space. NASA / astronaut Karen Nyberg, International Space Station (Expedition 37), Oct. 8, 2013. Nothing will get a San Antonian more defensive than a comparison with Austin. But, from a purely economic standpoint, the breakout of Austin is absolutely undeniable. If you looked at both cities in 2010 they were very close on many key economic metrics.

The knives are out for Mayor Jones. The Express-News Editorial Board has described Mayor Jones’ first year as “marked by [a] failure to lead.” Bob Rivard, in his midweek newsletter, says that she has suffered from “a year of misfires.” She has been censured, drawn the ire of her colleagues, and reliably earns negative national media. If the status quo continues, she could be relegated to another year or more with no political capital.

Kanye West is set to perform at the Alamodome on July 4th. Photo courtesy of Matthew LeJune on Unsplash. Over the weekend, Mayor Jones posted that she supports canceling the Ye concert scheduled for the Alamodome on July 4. The artist formerly known as Kanye West was revealed last week to be performing in San Antonio as a late addition to a tour that has been turned away across Europe; tickets are currently on sale. Mayor Jones’ tweet supporting the cancellation of Ye’s concert.

City Council got its first look at the FY2027 trial budget on Thursday. Inside it: the first proposed property-tax rate increase since 1993. The catch—it balances the budget for the next two years, but raises rates to do so and even maxing the rate doesn't close the structural gap the city's been warned about for years.

San Antonio City Council was briefed on the City Council on Thursday received its first detailed look at how San Antonio would close a budget gap that its own forecast projects will grow to $130.7 million by FY2028, presenting a recommendation that leans on a property tax rate increase and new fees rather than substantial reductions. What is not in dispute is the trajectory.

The City Council Chambers. Courtesy of the City of San Antonio. San Antonio has not raised its property tax rate since 1993, a streak City Manager Erik Walsh says is “not lost upon me.” This Thursday, City Council will be briefed on a “trial budget” for fiscal year 2027 that is likely built around ending that streak. There's a better answer: take a rate increase off the table, zero-base the entire budget, and stop deferring hard decisions.

City Council will be briefed on a trial budget for 2027 next Thursday. Inside it, the first proposed property tax rate increase since 1993. The city's own forecast shows a $131 million gap by 2028 that deepens to $264 million by 2031, and even maxing out the rate to its highest level since 2007 only raises about $53.8 million, while new police and fire costs alone add $77.2 million to the next budget.