Committee advances Board Bill 182, adds 3% pay increase for Board of Elections staff and adopts Indigenous Peoples Day amendment

Committee members of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen's Budget and Public Employees Committee voted to adopt an amendment to Board Bill 182 and issued a due-pass recommendation for the bill, which adds a 3% across-the-board pay increase for Board of Elections employees.

The bill's sponsor, Alderman Paula Velasquez, introduced Board Bill 182 as a pay bill for the Board of Elections. Committee members adopted an amendment that replaces the words "Columbus Day" with "Indigenous Peoples Day" in the ordinance language. The committee then recommended the bill be passed as amended.

The committee heard presentations from Gary Stoff and Ben Borgmeyer, the Republican and Democratic directors of elections for the city of St. Louis. Gary Stoff said, "I think it it sends a important message to our staff that we are very much a part of what's going on in terms of, payroll and being recognized for the good work that that we have been doing, both in terms of upgrading our procedures and being able to attract qualified candidates to fill vacancies as we go about our reorganization." Borgmeyer and Stoff told the committee the salary structure in the bill helped recruit candidates and retain staff during recent hiring.

Committee members and staff clarified the bill's substantive change: Section 4, Subsection A adds a 3% raise for Board of Elections employees. The committee's financial analyst said the fiscal note included with the bill overstates the first-year cost because it was prepared on an FY2026 basis; the transcript records a remainder-of-year cost of $11,364.51 for the current fiscal year. Committee members agreed the fiscal note will be corrected by a floor substitute when the bill reaches the full Board of Aldermen.

A member of the public, Dalen Brown, spoke during public comment and raised a set of administrative questions for aldermen — including whether aldermen have updated contact lists, city phones and city-designated computers — and requested that those questions be addressed in a future budget or audit. The committee deferred those broader administrative questions and continued to focus the meeting on Board Bill 182.

The committee adopted Amendment No. 1 to Board Bill 182 (replacing "Columbus Day" with "Indigenous Peoples Day") by voice vote; the clerk recorded five ayes. After discussion and the acknowledgment that the fiscal note will be corrected on the floor, the committee voted to give Board Bill 182 a due-pass recommendation as amended.

Alderman Velasquez closed by asking the committee for favorable consideration. The committee then adjourned.