St. Louis budget proposes $1.41 billion operating plan; officials flag tax refunds and slowing sales tax as risks

Budget Director Paul Payne told the St. Louis Board of Aldermen's Budget Committee the city's total FY2026 annual operating plan is $1,410,000,000 and that the largest single fund is the general fund at $607,400,000.

Payne said the apparent increase in the FY26 budget is driven in part by one-time and near-term factors: "this year, we took a big hit, as you are well aware of the earnings and payroll tax. There was significant refunds and activity that we had this year," he said, and added the refunds totaled about $47,200,000 to date.

Why it matters: committee members and the public were warned that those refunds made this year's budget look unusually low and that next year's numbers reflect the removal of the large, one-time refund activity. Payne said his FY26 revenue assumptions are modest: underlying growth estimates of roughly 1.5% for the earnings tax…