City of St. Louis ends fiscal year 2021 with $32 million surplus

(St. Louis – August 27, 2021) Comptroller Darlene Green announced today that the City of St. Louis closed its fiscal year 2021 with an operating budget surplus of $31.9 million.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has created fiscal challenges for our city and our region, including hiring issues. While some of those challenges are ongoing, St. Louis is fortunate to have outperformed expectations during the fiscal year,” said Comptroller Green.

Although total revenue was nearly flat (down 0.3 percent compared to fiscal year 2020), this amount exceeded budget projections for 2021 by $25.2 million. In addition, departmental expenditures came in lower than appropriations by $6.7 million, with most departments underspending their appropriation.

By ordinance, half of the operating balance ($15.9 million) will be transferred to the city’s Capital Fund. The remainder will accrue to the city’s General Fund reserve.

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Comptroller Darlene Green is the chief fiscal officer of the City of St. Louis and is charged with safeguarding the city’s credit rating and with protecting taxpayer dollars. Visit www.stlouis-mo.gov/comptroller to learn more about the Office of the Comptroller.