Committee advances $3.07 million in ARPA reappropriations, amid objections over shifting funds from home repair

The St. Louis Housing, Urban Development and Zoning Committee on June 11 advanced Board Bill 43 after a lengthy amendment process that changed the total reappropriation from roughly $2.52 million to $3,067,086.60 and shifted money into water infrastructure, food assistance and violence-prevention contracts.

Sponsor Alderman Switzer told the committee the fact sheet before members reflects updates made this week to ensure figures are accurate and that departments are prepared to answer questions. ‘‘We have some amendments to get some of those numbers more squared away,’’ Switzer said before the department presentations.

Mayor’s policy adviser Caitlin Smith guided the panel through departmental presentations. The medical examiner reported $22,533.37 in unspent ARPA funds after project completions and a canceled equipment purchase; emergency management (CEMA) said $34,888.26 tied to an ARPA compliance contract was no longer required; public safety reported $30,489.44 remaining on a CAD upgrade contract; and the Department of Health reported $113,142.88 available after terminating or reducing multiple contracts.

Department of Human Services Director Annalisa Stover requested $688,436.98 be moved from a direct-support-to-care-workers line into food assistance contracts administered by existing vendors (GA Foods and Hosco Norcera Food Hub), saying the reallocation would prioritize households in the tornado-impacted zone and that the department ‘‘will fully utilize the funds.’’

The Office of Violence Prevention asked for $831,803.19 to be reappropriated across roughly 10 organizations supporting community violence interruption, youth programming, diversion and hospital-based victim services. Grants manager Cynthia Davis said OVP has 87 active contracts (32 ARPA-funded) and summarized that grantees have served an estimated 16,500 participants and delivered more than 24,700 sessions.

Lorna Alexander of the Saint Louis Development Corporation described two North City commercial-corridor awards totaling $573,312 that failed to close by a May 29 deadline and were rescinded; she also said $306,799 remains from admin set-asides of an earlier $5,000-per-business small-business grant program.

Discussion focused sharply on whether leftover ARPA dollars should be moved to the water division as ‘‘revenue replacement’’ or held for home-repair needs in tornado-impacted neighborhoods. Alderman Sauniere (Vice Chair Saulnier) said she could not, in good conscience, vote to divert funds away from home repair without confirmation that every effort had been made to reallocate them to similar ARPA-funded contracts already in place. ‘‘I just can’t say for a fact that every due diligence was taken to have all the conversations to make sure that there was no way to put this money back into home repair,’’ she said.

Administration and staff replied that many of the leftover amounts are small purchase-order residuals tied to completed projects, or contracts that expired and legally could not be extended, and that some home-repair awards are individually contracted to specific addresses, making bulk reassignment difficult. Matt Mook of the Community Development Administration described the package as largely housekeeping and said two live programs were reduced by mutual agreement after recipients indicated they could not spend the full awards.

Committee members adopted nine amendments in order to reflect updated figures and to designate $2,378,649.62 for the water division (revenue replacement), $688,436.98 for food assistance, and other line-item changes. After debate and multiple roll calls, the committee voted to pass Board Bill 43 as amended with a do-pass recommendation: 5 ayes, 1 no (Vice Chair Saulnier). Sponsor Switzer said she would continue to engage colleagues and administration to explore where additional ARPA dollars can be targeted to North Side and tornado recovery efforts.

The committee’s action sends the bill to the full Board for further consideration. The city is working against a federal ARPA obligation and expenditure timeline that requires projects to be completed and finance entries finalized before year-end; staff said September 30 is the internal deadline for project completion to allow final Oracle/finance processing before the December 31 federal deadline.