Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones is looking for fat to trim as the city deals with a $158 million budget deficit — and she’s starting with the award-winning San Antonio Botanical Garden.
During a presentation last week on the city’s trial budget, Jones expressed alarm that San Antonio spends so much money subsidizing revenue-generating nonprofits. At that time, she specifically mentioned San Antonio Botanical Garden as a nonprofit that’s no longer in need of any public subsidies.
As part of the trial budget, or proposed financial plan, city staff recommends cutting $200,000 from the San Antonio Botanical Garden’s $1.2 million subsidy. However, Jones said she wants to see the subsidy drop to zero…