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County executive warns St. Louis County faces fiscal cliff as one-time funds expire
Summary
St. Louis County’s executive said the county has a 15-year structural deficit and warned one-time NFL settlement and pandemic relief funds will run out in about a year, forcing either deep service cuts—likely to public safety—or new recurring revenue.
The St. Louis County executive told listeners the county has carried a structural budget deficit for more than 15 years and that temporary federal pandemic relief and NFL settlement funds have only delayed a reckoning.
"Without additional recurring revenue, we have about a year left before the NFL settlement funds run out, and we will no longer be able to operate county government normally without an additional source of revenue or significant, painful budget cuts," the county executive said. He framed the situation as a revenue crisis rather than a spending problem.
The executive said more than half the county budget goes to public safety and urged the council and voters to consider options including a property-tax roll-up in an assessment year or putting a use (online sales) tax back on the ballot. He emphasized the need for a voter-education effort if the measure goes before voters again.
He also said county leaders are exploring shared services with St. Louis City and other efficiency measures but stressed these would not replace the need for a stable revenue source. "We have to be talking about it right now," he said.
