City of San Antonio Budget Work Session on Employee Compensation and All Other Departments - September 10, 2025
City of San Antonio Budget Work Session on Employee Compensation and All Other Departments - September 10, 2025
The San Antonio City Council held a budget work session on Wednesday, September 10, 2025, at 2:01 p.m. to hear presentations on employee benefits and compensation, followed by a review of all other city departments not previously covered. The session included detailed discussions on compensation options, health care premiums, and departmental budgets, with council members expressing support for a specific compensation alternative and raising questions on various departmental operations and reductions.
Employee Compensation and Benefits
Human Resources Director Renee Frieda presented the proposed FY26 budget for employee compensation and benefits. The HR departmental budget is $252 million, with 94% ($237 million) in the employee benefits fund for self-funded medical plans. The city has 13,723 authorized positions (about 4,700 uniformed, 8,900 civilian). The proposed budget includes $50 million in employee compensation increases: a 2% across-the-board increase for civilian employees, an 8% increase for fire employees effective October 1, 2025, and a 4% increase for police officers effective April 1, 2026. Frieda presented two alternatives to the proposed 2%: a 3% across-the-board increase costing an additional $6.31 million across all funds, and a 2% across-the-board plus a $750 base salary increase costing an additional $7.48 million across all funds. The latter option, developed with input from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSME) and the Employee Management Committee, would provide a 4% increase for entry-wage workers and at least 3% for those earning $75,000 or less. Frieda explained that this option maintains compression adjustments made in prior years. She also addressed health care premiums: a 5% increase for civilian employees and 10% for uniformed employees, consistent with collective bargaining agreements. She assured that no employee would see their pay increase negated by premium hikes; the highest annual premium increase is $384, affecting 80 employees, while the smallest pay increase is $748. 58% of employees would see a monthly premium increase of less than $5, and 93% less than $15. Open enrollment begins October 6, 2025, and a new guided selection tool through SAP will help employees choose plans.
All Other Departments
Freddie Martinez, Assistant Director of the Office of Management and Budget, presented the remaining $157.4 million of the proposed $4 billion budget, covering 21 departments across community services, operating support, and internal support. Key highlights included:
- 311 Customer Service: $5.2 million budget, 60 positions, a $59,000 right-sizing reduction with no service impact. Expected to answer over 1 million calls with a 96% answer rate and 25-second average wait time.
- Center City Development and Operations: $33.6 million budget, 156 positions, including $4.4 million in capital projects (Riverwalk Gate 3 repair, sidewalk renovations, Houston Street Garage improvements, staircase renovation).
- Historic Preservation: $3.5 million budget, 22 positions, with a $179,000 reduction eliminating two vacant positions. Director Shannon Miller stated the vacant building program would not be impacted.
- Integrated Community Safety Office: $1.55 million, 9 positions, targeting 50 good neighbor assessments with 25 properties abated in FY26.
- Office of Resiliency and Sustainability: $16.2 million budget (consolidating Office of Sustainability and Chief Resiliency Office), including $9.1 million for municipal on-site solar panels across 42 sites.
- World Heritage Office: $3.2 million budget, 14 positions. Director Colleen Swain noted a cautious target for creative city of gastronomy programs due to reduced international travel and her rotation off the coordinator role.
- City Attorney's Office: $22.0 million, 93 positions, a $289,000 right-sizing reduction.
- City Clerk's Office: $9.2 million, including $1.4 million for a potential bond election and $135,000 for a new municipal archives museum position.
- Communications and Engagement: $10.2 million budget, processing over 80,000 open records requests and operating 300+ TV productions annually.
- Government Affairs: $1.6 million, 6 positions, tracked over 2,200 state bills this legislative session.
- Building and Equipment Services: $150.1 million budget, including $67 million for equipment renewal (166 vehicles) and $9.6 million in capital projects (deferred maintenance, EV charging infrastructure).
- Compliance, Opportunity and Access: $2.7 million, 17 positions, with a $500,000 reduction eliminating two vacant positions. Director Dr. Jennifer Mata stated the office meets core services for disability and language access. The immigrant inclusion function has one staff person developing a three-year plan.
- Finance Department: $33.5 million, 190 positions, eliminating five positions in the general fund (three in compliance, one rate analyst, one program manager).
- Office of Innovation: $1.5 million, 8 positions, with a $175,000 reduction in R&D funding. Chief Innovation Officer Brian Dally noted the office aims to identify $5 million in potential savings through comprehensive budget reviews.
- Information Technology Services: $1.67 million (likely a typo for $167 million? but as stated), 356 positions, $1.2 million in mandates (Microsoft enterprise agreement, CAD system), $4.6 million in reductions (five vacant positions, contract savings, mainframe decommissioning).
- Risk Management: $32.7 million, 29 positions, conducting 500 facility safety inspections annually.
- Non-departmental: $27.7 million, including $8.4 million for sales tax collection fees, $6.2 million for building maintenance, $5.1 million for Bexar Appraisal District, $1.7 million for property tax collection, $1.4 million for Carver Community Cultural Center, and $600,000 in right-sizing reductions.
- General Fund Transfers: $7 million, including $2.8 million for the Agri-Crop Protection Program debt, $2.4 million for the Resiliency Energy Efficiency and Sustainability Fund.
Key Outcomes
- Compensation Alternative: Multiple council members (Chair Galvan, Councilwoman Castillo, Councilwoman Via Gran, Councilwoman Corps, Councilwoman Mesa Gonzalez, Councilwoman Alderete Gavito, Councilman Castillo Anghiano) expressed strong support for the 2% across-the-board increase plus $750 base salary increase (Option 2) as the preferred alternative. The mayor also praised the collaborative effort with AFSME.
- Directives and Next Steps:
- The mayor requested data on the workforce distribution by pay scale to understand impacts, and asked for outreach to veterans about VA benefits and TRICARE to potentially reduce city health plan costs.
- Councilman White requested information on the total savings from department efficiency reviews (city manager said total exceeds $8.4 million).
- Councilwoman Via Gran asked for a breakdown of employees by department for the 80% earning under $75,000.
- Councilwoman Corps requested data on job offer declines.
- Councilwoman Spears asked for details on the 50 neighborhood engagement sessions originally planned by the Integrated Community Safety Office (adjusted to 30 sessions).
- Councilwoman Alderete Gavito asked about the discontinuation of the citywide customer satisfaction survey (response: done every other year).
- Councilman Mesa Gonzalez requested more information on the e-bike pilot program.
- Councilman Galvan asked for a follow-up on vacant building enforcement capacity and noted the need for a review of the Local Government Corporation (LGC) subcommittee.
- Councilwoman Castillo supported re-establishing the LGC subcommittee and suggested tourist tours could offset Market Square rent if construction delays continue.
- Pending Amendments: Councilwoman Castillo indicated she will put forth an amendment to restore funding for American Gateways to the previous budget cycle level.
- Public Safety and Technology: Councilman White announced a pending council consideration request (CCR) on artificial intelligence policy, to be developed with the Office of Innovation.
- Meeting Adjourned: The council recessed into executive session at 4:20 p.m. for discussions on economic development, real property, and legal issues, and reconvened at 5:09 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon. The time is now 2 01 p.m. on Wednesday, September 10th, 2025 in the City of San Antonio. Budget work session is called to order. Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Councilmember Corps. Councilmember Castillo Anghiano. Councilmember Via Gran. Councilmember Mungia. President. Councilmember Castillo. Here. Councilmember Glavan. Councilmember Alderete Gavito. Here. Councilmember Mesa Gonzalez. Councilmember Spears. Here. Councilmember White. Mayor Jones. Here. Mayor, we have quorum. Great. Thank you, Madam Clerk. This meeting is to hear about employee benefits and compensation in all other departments. Eric, over to you. Thank you, Mayor. Good afternoon, Mayor Council. So we'll start off with Renee Frieda, our Human Resources Director, and then we'll transition to Freddie Alfred Martinez, our assistant director of the budget office who will cover the balance of the presentation. Brittany. Good afternoon. I'm Renee Frieda, and I'm the city's Director of Human Resources, and today I'll be presenting the proposed budget on employee compensation and benefits. Overseeing these initiatives are Deputy Director Crystal Strong, Assistant Director Natalie Bullock, Assistant Director Irma Medetos, Principal Compensation Principal Dan Williams, and Assistant to the Director Christina Hernandez. Here's a look at the budgeted resources that we use to support our COSA family. Of the 252 million dollar departmental budget, the vast majority, 94% or 237 million, is in the employee benefits fund, which is used to pay claims for our self-funded medical plans for the city and LGC staff. The remaining 6% of our budget is for departmental operations. That 6% or $15.9 million is split between the varying divisions of HR, with 30% going towards personnel services, and 35% covering departmental assessments for health insurance, unemployment, IT, and real estate. Whether we're building streets and sidewalks, encouraging responsible pet ownership, reducing waste, or educating our youth, our city of San Antonio employees are the ones who are directly responsible for delivering on our mission of providing quality city services. Our COSA workforce includes 13,723 authorized positions, of which about 4,700 are uniformed, and about 8900 are civilian. Of those civilian positions, about 8,500 are full-time, with about 400 being part-time. The FY26 budget continues to fund the broad range of benefits that you see here. When someone joins the COSA family, we are committed to supporting them through their career and into retirement. By offering them development opportunities such as tuition reimbursement, student loan repayment assistance, and GED prep. We hope to continuously grow them, allowing them to make a larger contribution to the city organization and earn a larger paycheck to support their family. We're also helping them committed to helping employees improve and maintain their health through our health benefits and wellness programs that you see here. Our generous leave package that includes 13 holidays annually, personal leave, and COSA care leave, allows employees to strike that important balance between work and home. In fact, new employees are eligible to receive 27 paid days off in their first year alone. And finally, our retirement benefits that include a pension through TMRS with a two to one match and retiree health care. Allow us to ensure that in exchange for their loyal and dedicated service, our employees can look forward to a comfortable retirement. Each of our benefits exist for the benefit of employees to help them meet their personal and professional goals, take care of themselves and their families, and navigate through the many obstacles that we each encounter in life.
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