Act I
La Ciudad
The City
San Antonio added 221,015 residents between the 2010 Census and the 2025 estimate, enough to hold its place as the seventh-largest city in the country.
It is a young, majority-Latino city with deep military roots. Joint Base San Antonio alone supports about 223,000 jobs, and the city holds a federal trademark on the name “Military City USA.” Founded in 1718, it celebrated 300 years in 2018. Its Spanish colonial missions became Texas’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015.
How the house is wired
Stylized district wheel. Dashed rings mark Loops 410 and 1604.
San Antonio runs on the council-manager system. Ten council members each represent a district of roughly 155,000 people, and a mayor elected citywide presides with one of eleven votes. The council hires a professional city manager, who runs daily operations and writes the proposed budget.
Studies from 2012 through 2015 placed the metro at or near the top nationally for income segregation. The city’s own 2024 poverty report still calls it one of the most economically segregated cities in the country.
From $20 a meeting to a salaried council
- Nov 2008Term limits widen from two 2-year terms to four.
- May 2015Voters approve salaries: $45,722 for council and $61,725 for the mayor, replacing $20 per meeting. The measure passes with 54.8%.
- Nov 2018A firefighter-backed amendment caps the city manager’s pay at 10 times the lowest-paid employee and tenure at eight years. 59% vote yes.
- Nov 2024All six charter changes pass. Terms become four years with a two-term limit and pay is pegged to area median income. A separate measure repeals the manager caps (54%).
- Oct 2025The income index lifts pay to $77,300 for council and $96,600 for the mayor.
- Dec 2025Council votes 6–5 to move city elections to November of odd years, starting in 2029.
Who held the keys
Since 2010 the city has had four mayors and two city managers. The current manager, a city employee since 1994, took the job in March 2019. In December 2024 the council voted 9–1 to raise his base pay to $461,000 and make his term open-ended.
Act II
La Lotería
The Fights
Fourteen cards, in order of play. Each one carries a title and leaves the names off. Tap a card for the full story, the numbers and the reporting behind it.
Act III
La Casa
How the House Runs
Where the general fund goes
The FY2027 budget, adopted 7–4 on Sept. 17, 2026, totals $4.41 billion. The general fund, which pays for most daily services, is $1.76 billion.
A projected $157.7 million gap through FY2028 was closed in two ways. Cuts covered $89.6 million, eliminating 92 positions, and unused property-tax capacity plus fee increases supplied the remaining $120.6 million. The tax rate rose from 54.159¢ to 56.288¢ per $100 of value, the first increase in more than 30 years, or about $35 a year for an average homestead. Less affluent districts backed it; Northside members opposed it.
The city owns its power company
The water utility adds 4% of its gross revenue, about $37.7 million. In August 2026 the governor proposed barring city-owned utilities from funding city budgets this way, which would reach the largest line on San Antonio’s revenue sheet.
Austin holds the leash
Bonds: needs and capacity
The 2022 package included the city’s first housing bond, $150 million. Staff recommended a $442 million program for 2027 on Sept. 30, 2026, against $5.8 billion in identified needs. Council is expected to vote in early February 2027.
Who shows up
What voters built
What to watch
Glossary
Council-manager government
Voters elect a council and mayor who set policy; the council hires a professional manager to run the city. San Antonio has used it since 1951.
Evergreen clause
A contract term that keeps an expired labor agreement in force while a new one is negotiated. The fire contract’s 10-year version started the 2014 lawsuit.
Binding arbitration
A neutral arbitrator sets contract terms both sides must accept. A 2018 amendment let the fire union force it.
Censure
A formal council rebuke. It carries no power to remove a member from office.
TIRZ
A tax increment reinvestment zone. Future growth in property-tax revenue inside the zone pays for projects there, such as the arena site.
Venue tax
A county hotel and rental-car tax that voters can dedicate to a sports or arts venue. Bexar County voters approved one for the arena in 2025.
Homestead exemption
A cut in taxable value for an owner’s primary home. The city grants the state maximum of 20%, plus $85,000 for residents 65 and older or with disabilities.
Revenue cap
Since 2019, Texas cities need voter approval to raise property-tax revenue more than 3.5% a year, with some exceptions such as unused capacity from earlier years.
Receipts
Sources
Figures checked against official documents and local reporting as of Oct. 4, 2026.