Property tax relief a 2022 highlight for San Antonians
Before we close the books on 2022, let’s take a quick look back at this eventful year.
The holidays are a perfect time for reflection. As we move from one year to the next, it is natural to consider our accomplishments and look toward our goals for the new year.
As in any year, we experienced some turbulence, but good times dominated 2022. While the COVID pandemic remains with us, our community returned to a normal way of life with exuberance.
Fiesta was more fun than ever. The football has been amazing, too.
How about those UTSA Roadrunners and UIW Cardinals? Both teams excelled, winning their respective conference championships for the second consecutive year.
And we hit a high point with soccer. The San Antonio FC made history by winning the USL championship for the first time ever.
While we continued to recover from the damage that the pandemic did to the economy, the City of San Antonio made a significant amount of important progress in 2022.
In May, we launched Ready to Work, the four-year workforce development program approved by voters in November 2020. Already, 8,709 have applied to participate in the program and more than 730 of our neighbors already are undergoing training.
Training for a wide variety of career paths is available, and the options are designed to meet the needs of local employers.
Our partners are busy processing and screening applicants, and if you need a career change to improve your quality of life or make ends meet, explore Ready to Work. It could be the answer you seek.
To find out more about Ready to Work, go online to readytoworksa.com, or call 311.
Meanwhile, San Antonio made significant progress in finding permanent housing for homeless residents.
Last year, the city committed to a goal of placing 1,500 unhoused people in permanent housing during 2022. The commitment was part of San Antonio’s participation in the Biden administration’s House America program, which is designed to reduce homelessness across the nation.
By mid-October, San Antonio already had found housing for more than 1,600 homeless residents, becoming the first city in the nation to meet and exceed its House America goal.
I am particularly happy that we were able to provide tax relief for San Antonio residents this year.
When City Council approved the fiscal 2023 city budget in September, we increased the city’s homestead exemption from 0.1 percent to 10 percent. Additionally, we increased the over-65 exemption from $65,000 to $85,000 and the disabled person exemption from $12,500 to $85,000.
The new exemptions were approved along with a 1.67 cent per $100 valuation decrease in property taxes.
In a year marked by inflation, the property tax relief was good news, totaling more than $76 million in tax relief citywide.
City Council also approved a new San Antonio Water System rate structure that will reduce water rates for 83 percent of SAWS customers. The average reduction will be 8.7 percent, or about $5.80.
And we passed a $350 million energy efficiency program for CPS Energy that is designed to produce energy savings by 1 percent annually and weatherize 16,000 homes. The program will reduce carbon releases by 185 tons.
City Council in June approved a design contract that launches work on Terminal C, the planned third terminal and five new gates at the facility.
The $2.5 billion project will transform the airport and is expected to be complete in 2028.
These are just a few of the 2022 highlights. Next year carries great promise, too, and the city will be focused on continuing the momentum we have gained coming out of the pandemic.
San Antonio is committed to working toward an even better 2023.
Happy New Year, San Antonio.
