Police say FY26 'increase' stems from internal charges as state control takes effect

St. Louis — Chief Robert J. Tracy and fiscal manager David Daniels presented the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s proposed FY26 baseline budget to the Board of Aldermen’s Budget and Public Employees Committee on May 8 and said the headline year‑over‑year increase is largely an accounting effect tied to state control and internal service charges.

"House Bill 495 requires revenue matches," David Daniels said to explain the accounting. He told the committee the department’s total appears to rise toward $200 million from about $183 million the prior year because internal service fund charges that had not been previously billed to the police department are now on the department’s line‑item statement.

What was said and why it matters: Daniels listed several large internal charges included in the department’s FY26 materials: a Department of Personnel charge, a charge from the City Counselor’s office (which includes funds for claims), facilities management and equipment services (fleet maintenance). Those items, he said, together account for most of the apparent increase; "there's not much in terms of new initiatives in this budget," Daniels said, noting the city’s revenue picture is essentially flat.

Key details and operational priorities

- Revenue-match timing under HB495: Daniels explained the HB495 revenue-match provisions are written on a calendar-year basis — 22% for the period ending Dec. 31, 2025, and 23% for Jan. 1–Dec. 31, 2026 — creating timing complexity with the city's fiscal year and complicating forecasts. The department and the budget office used a blended figure between the two percentages for internal planning.

- Internal service charges: Daniels cited what he described as several new allocations the department must cover, including personnel office charges, City Counselor billed claims and equipment services/fleet charges. He said those costs, combined with about $1 million in added revenue accounts, largely explain the jump in reported totals.

- Grants, asset forfeiture and capital: Daniels and Chief Tracy said the department planned a roughly $400,000 investment in academy facility improvements and noted a firing range project has funding in place, partly using asset forfeiture funds. Daniels said asset forfeiture will also be used for a planned PeopleSoft upgrade and for a ShotSpotter replacement (referred to in discussion as SoundThinking). The AG and police staff have reviewed the funding and project plans.

- Recruitment and staffing: Chief Tracy discussed recruitment progress and attrition. He reported 879 commissioned officers currently on the department's roster, with multiple academy classes in progress or planned (14 sworn in recently; 10 due to graduate in July; a potential 25–27 candidate class upcoming). He said the department has sworn back roughly 35 former officers in the last two years and continues to run a recruitment campaign and partnerships with local colleges and HBCUs.

- Overtime and vacancies: The department's overtime picture remains significant: the FY26 budget shows an overtime allotment but the chief and Daniels warned historical overtime expenditures commonly outpace budgeted overtime because vacancies require backfilling with overtime. Daniels noted last year’s overtime spending in the general fund exceeded $15.3 million.

- Legal representation and transition: Chief Tracy said, after the governor signed the state-control order, he met with the Missouri attorney general's office and said the AG’s team told department leadership, "you are our client," indicating the AG’s office will advise and in many cases handle legal work now being reviewed by state counsel while the city and attorney offices coordinate ongoing cases.

- Policy and enforcement topics: Committee members raised traffic safety, red‑light camera policy, and enforcement of reckless driving and ATV/dirt‑bike takeovers downtown. Chief Tracy described an ongoing enforcement strategy that includes targeted cruising details, towing, social‑media investigations of organized events and coordination with regional partners. He also said the department documents arrests and, when necessary, notifies federal immigration authorities; his stated policy is that the department "does not enforce federal immigration laws" but must document arrests and provide information when required.

Next steps and committee requests

Members asked for detailed line‑item explanations, including how internal service fund reallocations were calculated; Daniels said the budget office and the department would provide additional documentation. Tracy said the department will proceed with planned recruitment and academy scheduling while cooperating with the state transition and the incoming police board.

Ending

Committee members repeatedly asked for clearer, auditable breakdowns of the newly billed internal service charges and for documentation of planned capital and asset‑forfeiture projects; the department said it would provide additional detail to the committee and emphasized that state control had not created a pool of unencumbered new funds for local operations.