ST. LOUIS— The latest public phase of vetting proposals to spend the city of St. Louis’ $250 million share of the region’s settlement with the NFL ends Friday Feb. 2 at 11:59 p.m. when a city voting portal which has been open since Jan. 5, closes.
As of Thursday night, roughly 9,500 have voted on 20 ideas that were previously submitted for consideration.
Among the ideas up for a vote:
Funding public school construction
Traffic calming and pedestrian-friendly street design
North-South Metrolink expansion
A city redevelopment loan fund
Water main replacement
Subsidized child care
Increases in city employee pay
Voters have 10 “tokens” which they can either use all on one idea or spread around.
While there is no deadline to spend the money, a timeline provided by the city suggests that the next phase of the vetting process will include aldermanic hearings between now and the end of May to determine feasibility and costs.
One idea not among the twenty included for a public vote but that will get consideration from the Board of Aldermen moving forward is the concept of a municipal endowment fund that would allow for a longer-term impact. Mayor Tishaura Jones reiterated her support for it this week.
“We would save a large portion of the Rams settlement funds and live off of the interest for many years to come because we don’t know what sort of economy lies ahead of us and we want to make sure we set the city up for financial success well into the future,” she said.