St. Louis County Executive Sam Page wants to use the bulk of federal coronavirus relief money to plug budget holes, a move he said will forestall cuts to services or tax increases for several years.
But the move is getting a cool reaction from some members of the St. Louis County Council, who want to use money from what鈥檚 known as the American Rescue Plan for one-time investments in the county鈥檚 housing and small businesses.
funds over the next several years. And some of the money can be used to backfill budget deficits that were caused by the pandemic.
In a letter attached to his proposed 2022 budget, Page wrote that accounts funding the county鈥檚 general governmental expenses and health-related initiatives will have major deficits over the next two years. That鈥檚 why Page wrote that he wants the council 鈥渢o consider allocating the remaining unappropriated balance鈥� of the American Rescue Plan funds to fill those budgetary gaps.
鈥淭his proposed financial plan will provide limited, temporary relief to the underlying imbalance between annual revenue received and the costs of providing government services to our residents,鈥� Page wrote.
During a press conference earlier this week, Page said that this year he鈥檚 asking the council to allocate about $85 million in American Rescue Plan funds to fill budget gaps.
鈥淭hat will allow us to continue funding our basic services in St. Louis County, primarily public health and public safety,鈥� Page said. 鈥淎nd it will allow us to avoid difficult conversations because of lost revenue or property tax increases.鈥�
While several council members said that some of the rescue funds would go to stave off budgetary gaps, they stressed that it鈥檚 unlikely all of the remaining money would be used for that purpose.
Council Chairwoman Rita Days, D-Bel Nor, said her colleagues 鈥渁re not inclined鈥� to follow through on Page鈥檚 plan.
鈥淭hat could change as things move on, we don鈥檛 know that,鈥� Days said. 鈥淏ut at this particular point, there is not the inclination to do that.鈥�
Councilman Ernie Trakas, R-St. Louis County, said the idea that the council would allocate the full amount of rescue money just to make up for lost revenue is 鈥渘ot realistic.鈥�
鈥淚 think on a reasoned basis, if the county executive came to the council with specific amounts to be designating for supplanting, there may be some way of reaching common ground,鈥� Trakas said.
Trakas said rescue plan funds could free up money elsewhere in the budget for a host of one-time spending options, such as tearing down debilitated homes in unincorporated areas or bolstering aspects of the county鈥檚 public health system.
鈥淚鈥檓 talking about existing problems that are chronic and have needed addressing for some time,鈥� Trakas said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I think these funds, in my opinion anyway, should be used for.鈥�
Councilwoman Lisa Clancy, D-Maplewood, said there鈥檚 still time in the budget process to reach a compromise between Page and members of the council. She said it鈥檚 possible that the council 鈥渃ould fill our budget holes鈥� with rescue money, then 鈥渁ppropriate from our general fund some of the needs in St. Louis County related to programs and services.鈥�
Even if Page鈥檚 plan is adopted by the council, members said it doesn鈥檛 solve long-term revenue and expenditure problems.
Page himself acknowledged that reality when he wrote 鈥渨hen the federal funds are exhausted, likely by 2024, we will be forced to identify additional revenue sources to maintain the services we provide.鈥� That could include, Page wrote, property tax hikes and a ballot item to allow the collection of tax revenue on Internet retailers that don鈥檛 have a physical presence in the county.
Days said the county needs to have tough conversations about curtailing spending.
鈥淲e cannot continue to tax and whatever 鈥� we can鈥檛 do that,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e have to make some very, very hard decisions. And this is going to be the year to do it, I鈥檓 afraid.鈥�
Clancy added that there could be an opportunity to do a 鈥渢houghtful evaluation of our expenses and where we鈥檙e getting our value.鈥�
鈥淚 heard some energy from across the aisle for that in some of our discussions recently,鈥� Clancy said. 鈥淪o perhaps that鈥檚 something we can be thinking about as we embark on this conversation.鈥�
The council has until the end of the year to approve the 2022 budget.
Follow Jason on Twitter: @jrosenbaum
