SAN ANTONIO—The city of San Antonio is now working on its budget for the upcoming fiscal year, after taking a big hit from COVID-19.

“This is one of the hardest budgets that the city of San Antonio will go through,” said Jada Andrews-Sullivan, San Antonio city councilwoman for district two.

The fiscal year starts on October 1, 2020.

“We know that our district is truly in need of economic development and with true economic development comes beautification, comes revitalization and becomes a renewing of our district,” said Andrews-Sullivan.

Each council member will request funds to go toward specific concerns in their districts.

Meanwhile, the city is trying to recoup funds they lost due to the pandemic.

“We’re looking to see where we can manageably cut, but that we don’t cut core services,” said Adriana Rocha-Garcia, city councilwoman for San Antonio’s district four.

During the first of several 2021 budget virtual town halls, held Thursday night, the city said it isn’t seeing as much money coming in, as it normally does, since it was shut down for month.

“Our financial forecast we showed council is that over the next two years, we’ll need to make $109 million worth of reductions in our spending,” said Erik Walsh, San Antonio city manager.

One area feeling the pressure right now is public safety, as calls are being made nationwide to defund police departments.

“Fire, EMS and police are your main staples of any municipality to ensure the health, safety and welfare of the community,” said Michael Helle, president of the San Antonio Police Officer’s Association. “Either side that you cut, it’s going to make a difference in how you police in San Antonio.”

So, we asked how this might impact the taxpayer.

“We do have to figure out how to provide, we also have to figure out how to advocate for our residents,” said Rocha-Garcia.

The city will be hosting several town halls and workshops, before city council votes to adopt a budget.

The next 2021 budget virtual town hall is scheduled for tomorrow at 6 p.m. for district four, you can watch it here.