[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6229223,"mediaKeyId","3464423-91acdf13066aef952cc689e6e3e3c39a","parentId",3464423,"title","Affordable Housing Commission details $6.5M budget, urges full statutory use of trust fund amid tornado recovery","audioSeconds",2109,"startMs",5048920,"endMs",7158240,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3464423-91acdf13066aef952cc689e6e3e3c39a&start=5048&end=7158","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3464423-91acdf13066aef952cc689e6e3e3c39a/thumbnail_5048920.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6229223/St-Louis-City/St-Louis-County/Missouri/Affordable-Housing-Commission-details-65M-budget-urges-full-statutory-use-of-trust-fund-amid-tornado-recovery","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6229223-3e38c92b4edc6619c778d606d5818183/orig.mp4?Expires=1771183208&Signature=OmEyCCPm8syPL7GC3~6LvaoB8bK3KQKtfkINoknzCMQo30-mOtn8D0iUkFOkf3VD0sCcRV4yaFDtcCUSxR5QiASHZ4v2er9au4l3VZDAh6TjkoR1hDMRaokINbMzIAt4PRx6jimujOWF7svPQJDKrvZNlWa0MidQluljmIg5~mhfV2fkYsvQh-~fLtYrHxk-cQaDSnRw24~Ln4feCb9aRBbb~NmWFXR2j9NQof3jMfPX3sny-ehZLXgmmiDeYXYxY5b4O652MG26S7657K9q1c7y2cz4MBqKmq76x6VdvZm3yxV-8LCOLxqw2flemSwOGaMPAWaNNYaLhiR4GD-QHA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","City Council of St. Louis, MO","date","2025-05-23T15:39:03.663Z","article","April Ford Griffin, executive director of the City of St. Louis Affordable Housing Commission, told the Budget & Public Employees Committee on May 21 that the commission’s proposed FY26 budget totals $6,513,175 and that $5,555,512 of that is budgeted for subsidy and housing assistance — including $5 million in use-tax (trust fund) revenue newly proposed for the coming year.

Why it matters: the Affordable Housing Trust Fund (the use-tax source) was created by ordinance to provide a recurring stream for affordable housing. Griffin told the committee the fund has invested roughly $150.7 million since 2003 and helped create or preserve 2,728 affordable units.

Griffin said the commission continues to operate a competitive annual funding round to support housing production, preservation and supportive services. The commission awards both capital for housing developments and grants for service providers that deliver homelessness prevention, rental assistance, tenant legal help, home repair and workforce/case-management supports. For the most recent funding round the commission awarded about $4.7 million for programmatic grants and $2.0 million to developers creating rental housing (88 rental units) from a larger slate of applications.

The director described modest office capacity: the commission currently has seven permanent positions and three vacancies; staff use temporary accounting support to keep contracts moving. She flagged that ARPA and trust-fund monies already committed to developments have strict liquidation and reporting requirements; funds show as “spent” in city ARPA reports only after projects submit receipts and staff completes liquidation steps.

Griffin reiterated the trust fund ordinance requires the commission receive at least $5 million annually and urged watchers that when city revenues are tight the purpose of the use tax is to protect affordable housing funding. She noted the commission invests funds across incomes defined by area median income (AMI) tiers and that the trust fund serves households from very low income (20% AMI) up to 80% AMI depending on the program.

Discussion versus decisions: Committee members praised the commission’s transparency and asked operational questions about vacant positions and tornado impacts to grantees; Griffin said staff surveyed grantees to assess project impacts and that most developments had received initial advances or draws and that ARPA-reporting lags may understate cash flows on the city dashboard. No committee vote was taken.

Ending: Griffin said the commission stands ready to amend existing contracts to meet urgent housing needs created by the tornado and requested continued support from the Board of Aldermen and ENA to sustain the $5 million minimum annual allocation from the use tax.

","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Budget & Public Employees","oneSentenceSummary","April Ford Griffin, executive director of the City of St. Louis Affordable Housing Commission, told the budget committee the commission’s FY26 proposal is $6,513,175 (including $5,555,512 for subsidy/housing assistance), and reminded aldermen the enabling ordinance was written to provide no less than $5 million annually from the use tax.","taxTitle","St. Louis City, St. Louis County, Missouri","taxId",2587,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6229228,"Human Services director warns federal cuts could shrink homeless and senior services; committee hears shelter and tenant-fund gaps after tornado",2384,4426920,6811750,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3464423-91acdf13066aef952cc689e6e3e3c39a&start=4426&end=6811","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3464423-91acdf13066aef952cc689e6e3e3c39a/thumbnail_4426920.jpg","/articles/6229228/St-Louis-City/St-Louis-County/Missouri/Human-Services-director-warns-federal-cuts-could-shrink-homeless-and-senior-services-committee-hears-shelter-and-tenant-fund-gaps-after-tornado","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6229228-531209b2c74a4adf713b05da4b5dfb0a/orig.mp4?Expires=1771183208&Signature=I5UOrWLBe~Te3ocTatiQWEz~cQoMPNcC~6WZknNC5nNN29YPwm-va~BmDvupF9U9uG2vQxqgfpf5rebm86qXbH6z5bA0Pyw87BYuiz6XKqZonhMuncrASKxPDWh47eBqrs0F8la2ApZZJhvUq0yjWBoCDvsR8RjLyBxoQ-9HAGKqsnjmPUBSgLIIiZhBISlLePIyBdJ9baUzPTiUz4xeThCN9LqT2uZZ-ayjUF4w9axYnr553iCyU3diQL13vlWXw8rVPfPkuBJfWXlFFHkLk1MKMUlS37U0s5Ks45MRcr4Cdto0OxsaGRJwG0xhRwm5VbVzLfLDylmWOXZadi0O9g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Adam Pearson, director of the City of St. Louis Department of Human Services, told the Budget & Public Employees Committee on May 21 that the department is managing federal grants for seniors, homeless services and youth while preparing for storm-related needs and potential federal funding reductions.

Pearson and deputy director Valerie Russell described three priorities: preserving senior services, protecting HUD Continuum of Care (CoC)–funded programs for the unhoused, and pivoting youth services toward eviction prevention and tenant assistance.

Why it matters: DHS runs federally funded programs that the department says are at risk if federal funding is reduced or repackaged. The city is also responding to immediate needs after a recent tornado that displaced residents and increased shelter demand.

Homelessness and shelter capacity: Pearson said the city has roughly 700 emergency shelter beds, typically about 96% occupied. The point‑in‑time count of unsheltered people rose this year to 387 from 154 last year, he said. DHS asked the committee for an additional $500,000 for emergency shelter beds in the coming winter planning but reported that the requested increase was reduced by $250,000 in the current budget process; staff asked the committee to consider full funding of the request.

Pearson said outreach teams and contract partners provide weekly encampment engagement across all wards. On a specific encampment near an interstate (referred to as a private parcel), he said city departments and outreach partners “discuss that encampment almost each week” to coordinate services and referrals.

Senior services and federal changes: Pearson and Russell described the St. Louis Area Agency on Aging (SLAA) role in delivering senior services. They said roughly 45,000 St. Louis residents are over 65 and that their contracted network reached about 7,000 seniors through direct contact and delivered “almost 300,000” home-delivered meals (staff noted a delivery surge following the tornado). They flagged federal reorganizations and proposed cuts: a proposed reduction in HUD Office of Community Planning and Development staffing/operations and changes to the Administration for Community Living that could eliminate certain elder services such as fall prevention and ombudsman support.

Pearson and Russell said many SLAA staff are currently funded through federal grants (reported as 19 positions), and the department requested one client service coordinator position (unfunded) as higher priority than a clerk typist. Russell said converting 12 federally funded direct-service positions to a nonfederal funding source would cost about $635,000.

Impacted Tenants Fund and tornado aid: Committee members discussed the Impacted Tenants Fund created by ordinance. Russell explained the fund’s current design requires proof that tenants were displaced because of landlord code violations; as drafted, it may not cover tenants displaced by a natural disaster such as the tornado. The FY26 budget shows $160,000 in that fund; Pearson and Russell said Employment Connection holds a $100,000 contract to administer the program. Russell told the committee that altering the ordinance would require the Board of Aldermen to permit broader eligible uses to include storm displacement. Committee members discussed adding additional general-fund support and whether an allocation could be increased to $1 million if the board amended the ordinance.

Funding mechanics and special funds: The committee asked about a special fund referenced as 11/21 (public-safety sales/use tax fund) that carries emergency shelter line items. Budget staff explained that the use-tax allocation and ordinance structure put money in that 11/21 fund and that general-fund transfers could also supplement emergency shelter accounts if the board so directed.

Discussion versus decisions: The committee asked multiple clarifying questions; DHS requested full funding for the shelter increase and indicated the Impacted Tenants Fund rules limit using those dollars for storm-displaced tenants without a legislative change. No formal budget vote was recorded during the hearing.

Ending: Aldermen offered support for winter planning and disaster response coordination; DHS said it will continue outreach, monitor ARPA and HUD deadlines, compile storm-displacement data and follow up on a possible ordinance change to allow tenant assistance for tornado-displaced renters.

","Department of Human Services Director Adam Pearson told the budget committee that federal proposals to cut community development and senior programs could reduce long-term housing supports while immediate local needs have grown after a tornado; DHS requested additional shelter funding and flagged limits in an Impacted Tenants fund.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6229233,"Acting corrections chief outlines programs, staffing shortfall and medical contract increase at budget hearing",1331,3202870,4534050,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3464423-91acdf13066aef952cc689e6e3e3c39a&start=3202&end=4534","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3464423-91acdf13066aef952cc689e6e3e3c39a/thumbnail_3202870.jpg","/articles/6229233/St-Louis-City/St-Louis-County/Missouri/Acting-corrections-chief-outlines-programs-staffing-shortfall-and-medical-contract-increase-at-budget-hearing","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6229233-1ffba2141cd60a037d0d237f8272e776/orig.mp4?Expires=1771183208&Signature=k9c2A9Wil6~dso-LcCBs8N-frmkfEvA30K5bXRdA7OKH71kKrtZcrgyBd6Rdby6lgGm8DGKfp7y1S6o-i1n7n~3cwfaqpJ5NeK~t3ecgPm4pIjrWHL0Cb11U~x8ro0xSGYOGxcfiUAD8wjwRhor3WH4fwB-EiFNjRepOVnq3Wyzh1ts8n6tQ0LMwfXt9YqGeT0-jF1Wq4fdfH2kNnuS3VSUcTbbhrftJwLVDUdduhVSRH4oEDZNNxTsT12g7Vg8KGaTwfe-ocDCEVYnGJuq15KPcQRIROzRhvdO358F5gTiuGG52fxGxUCnRmgIESnH8EP00s5qwN67RFOEoYx55Bg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Acting Corrections Commissioner Doug Burris told the Board of Aldermen’s Budget & Public Employees Committee on May 21 that the City Justice Center holds roughly 750 detainees and that the department has expanded education, treatment and reentry programming even as it faces staffing and contract cost pressures.

Burris said the jail population has risen about 40% in four years and remains around “750 to 800” people most of this year. At the hearing he emphasized the department’s shift toward programming: GED classes in partnership with St. Louis Public Schools, a vocational “Safe Serve” food-handling certification, an opioid intervention program and new partnerships for veterans’ services, reading programs and unlocked computer labs offering certification tracks.

Why it matters: the department says programming reduces recidivism and connects detainees to services on release, but operations are constrained by vacancies and rising medical costs.

Burris told the committee that one-quarter of detainees have been diagnosed with a serious psychiatric illness and are on medication, “1 in every 8 detainees are there charged with murder,” and “1 in every 12 detainees have been at the facility for more than 2 years.” He also cited individual cases to explain why staff changed the facility handbook language to call people “residents” or “detainees” rather than inmates.

On phone costs, Burris said the department implemented a change “due to a change in law” that reduced detainee phone rates from 23¢ per minute to 7¢ per minute; he said residents responded positively. He gave a recent weekly figure for food service — “this last week alone, we served over 18,000 meals in the jail.”

Budget and staffing: Burris presented a requested Division of Corrections budget of $31,883,738. He said almost the entire increase from the prior year was driven by a higher medical contract: “Previously, the contract was at 8,500,000.0. In this coming year, it's going to be 11,000,000, which is a 2 and a half million dollar increase.” He said the department proposed reducing funded positions from 150 to 133 because many posts are going unfilled, and that recruitment and forced overtime are ongoing problems.

Burris described several line-item changes proposed or received: educational training services in the budget fell in the proposal from $30,000 to $10,000; a requested $765,000 in personnel services (to support staff meals and other retention measures) was not allotted in the current proposal. He said the department is negotiating with outside recruiters (the Walls Group) to speed hiring and plans a recruitment “amnesty box” at intake modeled on the St. Charles County jail to reduce contraband.

Medical and operational clarifications: Mignon Frazier Faluque, Fiscal Operations Support Manager, told the committee the Department of Health provided a $1 million advance this fiscal year to cover medical costs after an updated contract with the jail’s medical provider was signed in February. Burris and staff noted the department expects next year’s budget to cover those costs without borrowing.

Capital and intake issues: Burris identified short-term repairs planned with the Facilities Department, including creating a wall in the intake area so people in intake have visual separation and bathroom access. He said the intake area contains two very large pods within a total of nine pods in the facility.

Operations and custody roles: Sheriff’s Office responsibilities were discussed. Tammy Ross, Deputy Commissioner, confirmed the sheriff’s office handles detainee transportation to court and that the jail serves primarily as the holding facility; Ross said the sheriff’s side stages and signs out detainees for court.

Programs and external partnerships: Burris described the mental health restoration program being developed with the Missouri Department of Health, which he said would bring state-paid staff into the jail and reimburse the jail roughly $90 per day for treated patients. He called the unlocked labs program — a computer-based education initiative already operating in several states — a national first for a county jail setting.

Discussion versus decisions: the committee did not take formal votes on corrections items during the hearing. Members asked for clarification of personnel and capital needs; Burris repeatedly emphasized personnel as the most critical unmet need.

Ending: Committee members expressed support and indicated they would follow up with written questions. Burris and staff said they would provide additional clarification on the medical contract and capital repair plans when requested.

","Acting Corrections Commissioner Doug Burris told the Board of Aldermen’s Budget & Public Employees Committee the Justice Center is running around 750 detainees, has expanded reentry and training programs, and is seeking more staff and funding after a roughly $2.5 million increase in the medical services contract.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Affordable Housing Commission details $6.5M budget, urges full statutory use of trust fund amid tornado recovery

Human Services director warns federal cuts could shrink homeless and senior services; committee hears shelter and tenant-fund gaps after tornado

Acting corrections chief outlines programs, staffing shortfall and medical contract increase at budget hearing