The SA 2011 Budget and You

The 2011 City of San Antonio proposed budget has just been revealed and according to the Express-News "The Sky is not Falling."  Because of the projected increase in CPS revenue of $24 million the city didn't have to raise property taxes, garbage or sewer fees.  The $12 million worth of proposed cuts are mostly in the form of efficiences and reduced hours of service.

But of course right away in the comments, one reader complained that we are being gouged by energy fees.

So I decided to see how we stack up against other Texas cities.  The cheapest rate in inner city Houston (77002) offered by Dynowatt, Frontier and Reliant energy companies is 8.6 cents/kilowatt hour (kWh), so if you used 1000 kWh it would cost $86.00. The average price per kWh in Houston is 13 cents. The city has 40 utility companies to choose from and most companies have more than one type of plan.  Ironically the most expensive company is called Payless Energy at 17.4 cents/kWh, which you can get without a credit check.

Inner city Dallas' (75201) cheapest rate, also offered by Reliant, Frontier and  Dynowatt is 8.1 cents/kWh.  Dallas has the same 40 company options.  The average price is 12.75 cents/kWh.

The City of Austin, like San Antonio, only has one public utility company, Austin Energy with a starting rate of 3.55 cents/kWh up to 500kWh after that in the winter the rate goes up to 6.02 cents/kWh and 7.82 cents/kWh in the summer.

City Public Service in San Antonio charges 6.68 cents/kWh up to 600 kWh, after that an extra 1.75 cents/kWh is charged.

The average US residence uses 920 kWH of electricity per month, so if we go by the cheapest rates and average rates in each city the average rate per city would be:

Houston           $79.12 cheapest  $119.6 average
Dallas              $74.52 cheapest  $117.3 average
Austin              $43.04 winter      $50.60 summer
San Antonio     $67.06 year round

Now, if this looks cheaper than you regular bill, even if you used less than 920 kWh, remember there are other charges on your bill, like gas use, garbage and brush collection, the environmental service fee, regulatory fees, fuel adjustment fees, service availability charges and special service charges (Windtricity, All Night Security Light, etc).

So, even with all the competitors in Dallas and Houston, CPS still charges less per kilowatt hour.

In order to meet the 2011 proposed Austin Budget, the city raised property taxes and other fees at a cost of about $9.31 more per month.  The City of Dallas is contemplating a myriad of fee and rate increases and drastic cuts in the Parks and Rec department.

Another reader complained about the 2% cost of living (COL) increase for non managerial city employees.  (Managers only recieve increases based on evaluations)  In Austin, city employees in unions are receiveing a 3% COL raise and the rest a 2.5% COL raise.

Many cities throughout the US are in dire budgetary distress, so much so that some cities are farming out all city services.  I think a small rise of about $5.57 per month for the average utility bill isn't too bad.

Where do Your Property Taxes Go? Health Services

A Recap of City of San Antonio revenues and spending. So $1,074.42 of your property taxes goes to the City of San Antonio.

The City of San Antonio receives revenues from several sources: Property taxes (25%), Charges and fees (20%), Revenues from Utilities (17%), Grants (usually federal) (15%), Sales Tax (14%), Hotel/Motel Tax (4%), Other Taxes (Short Term Rental Tax, Bingo Tax, etc) (2%), Fines (Library Fines, Traffic Tickets) (1%), Miscellaneous (1%), Intergovernment (0.6%), Permits/Licenses (0.4%)

The 2010 Budget for the City divides general fund expenditures in the following ways: Police (36%), Fire/EMS (26%), other services (Aviation, Community Initiatives, Historic Preservation, Solid Waste Management, Military Affairs, etc) (11%), Convention, Tourism and Culture (9%), Streets and Infrastructure (7%), Environmental (5%), Parks & Recreation (6%), Agencies (4%), Library (3%), Health (1%), Municipal Courts (1%), Neighborhood Services (1%), Economic Development (0.5%), Animal Care (0.5%). I will take you through each of these items in separate posts. If you feel that you have a better way to spend the money you can post your suggestions on the online Budget suggestion box for the 2011 budget.
(For links to all items in the CSA budget, see past posts.)

So 1% of the city of SA budget goes to the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District.  The Health District is responsible for food inspections of restaurants, school cafeterias, grocery stores and any establishment that requires a food license to operate.  It also operates the  Environmental Health and Wellness Center which is responsible for the childhood lead poisoning prevention program, and air quality.  It also established the public emergency preparedness program for bioterrorism attacks and outbreaks of deadly infectious diseases.

The Health District also runs dental clinics and health clinics that provide low cost immunizations for the flu and childhood vaccines.   It has also started the Steps to a healthier SA program to promote healthier life styles in SA.  The District is also responsible for insect control, issuing birth and death certificates, and running the Women, Infant and Child program (WIC)  , a supplemental nutrition program for low income families with young children.

How to save money on Police Services

Since I've been talking about the city budget and how much of the pie (36% or more then $319 million) goes to police services I thought I'd direct y'all to a great idea for saving money on  police services suggested by Scott Henson at Grits for Breakfast.

Scott suggests that the police only get sent out to verified alarm calls. 

If you're talking about cutting officers or eliminating overtime, here's a suggestion to put more officers on the street essentially for free: Implement verified response for burglar alarms. About 98-99% of residential burglar alarm callas are false alarms and nearly all the rest of the time the suspect is long gone when officers arrive. Implementing verified response would be like expanding the police force by 10% or more, allowing officers to focus on more important tasks. The reason this suggestion is free to the city, incidentally, is that it essentially eliminates a special-interest subsidy to the private alarm industry that's unjustified based on any cost-benefit analysis. It also would create jobs because the alarm companies must hire staff to verify alarms.

I think this is a great suggestion that would be relatively painless for the city to implement and would free up the police for more important duties. Check out rest of the post here.

San Antonio is Solid Gold

The city of San Antonio just received the highest bond rating possible.  So why is this a big deal?  I means that the city's finances are so solid, with cash reserves of 9% of the annual budget, that it is in no danger of defaulting on loans like many other cities.  San Antonio is also listed as one of Forbes top ten most recession proof cities.

Kudos apparently go to City Manager Sheryl Sculley who helped the city raise cash reserves from 3% to 9% in five years.  The only other city with a triple triple bond rating is Phoenix, the city SA wooed Sculley away from.
When SA was first courting Sculley they offered her a salary so large many citizens were red with outrage, I can't say I was too keen on the idea.  But she has proved her worth.  Congratulations Ms. Sculley on a job well done.

Where Do Your Property Taxes Go? City of San Antonio

A Recap of City of San Antonio revenues and spending. So $1,074.42 of your property taxes goes to the City of San Antonio.


The City of San Antonio receives revenues from several sources: Property taxes (25%), Charges and fees (20%), Revenues from Utilities (17%), Grants (usually federal) (15%), Sales Tax (14%), Hotel/Motel Tax (4%), Other Taxes (Short Term Rental Tax, Bingo Tax, etc) (2%), Fines (Library Fines, Traffic Tickets) (1%), Miscellaneous (1%), Intergovernment (0.6%), Permits/Licenses (0.4%)

The 2010 Budget for the City divides general fund expenditures in the following ways: Police (36%), Fire/EMS (26%), other services (Aviation, Community Initiatives, Historic Preservation, Solid Waste Management, Military Affairs, etc) (11%), Convention, Tourism and Culture (9%), Streets and Infrastructure (7%), Environmental (5%), Parks & Recreation (6%), Agencies (4%), Library (3%), Health (1%), Municipal Courts (1%), Neighborhood Services (1%), Economic Development (0.5%), Animal Care (0.5%), . I will take you through each of these items in separate posts. If you feel that you have a better way to spend the money you can post your suggestions on the online Budget suggestion box for the 2011 budget.

I'm going to skip over other services for the time being and focus on the the major areas of spending in the budget.  Convention, Tourism and Culture recieve 9% of the city budget.  The city manages and maintains several facilities used for Conventions here in San Antonio.  Conventions bring a lot of money into the city, not just for government coffers but for private businesses as well, such as restaurants, retail stores, car rental agencies, hotels & motels and tourist attractions.  Facilities used for conventions, sports and entertainment include the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, The Alamo Dome, The Municipal Auditorium and the Lila Cockrell Theater.  Large, modern conventions are the biggest drivers behind the tourism economy in San Antonio. Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News has suggested that San Antonio's lack of a modern sports facility cost the city the Final Four competition.  San Antonio could build a new stadium, but the costs need to be weighed against the benefits.  Using a large arena for occasional sports events may not be very cost effective.  Also where is the funding coming from to build a new facility, probably taxes.

Money spent on Tourism mostly goes toward advertising and the San Antonio Visitors Center.  San Antonio is the 17th most visited city in the US and a very important part of the city's economy.  Tourist attractions are only part of what draws visitors to San Antonio, cultural events also bring in tourists.  San Antonio's art scene is somewhat under the radar, so the city is working to promote the arts more prominently.