City of St. Louis Solicits Public Input to Address Budget Shortfall

March 10, 2010
Contact: Kara Bowlin                                                

314-622-3479

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


St. Louis – The City of St. Louis wants to hear from taxpayers on how the City should address next year's budget shortfall. St. Louis, like most cities across the country, is faced with a roughly $46 million budget shortfall for fiscal year 2011. The budget problems are caused by decreased revenue (which is a result of a down economy) and the escalating costs of employee pensions. These budget problems must be addressed by reducing recurring costs and/or finding new recurring revenue sources. By law, the City of St. Louis must live within its means.

"We must listen to our constituents because they are our customers and we are accountable to them," said Mayor Francis Slay. "We are working to identify and eliminate unneeded redundancies and inefficiencies. We may have to eliminate government functions that are nice, but that we can live without. My office is working with many people and elected officials to find new, creative, and innovative ways to deliver services. We also must set our priorities. We're committed to fight crime, keep our neighborhoods clean, and minimize the budget shortfall's impact on taxpayers."

Citizens can now send their input to Budgetideas@stlouiscity.com. To submit ideas anonymously, a form is set up at http://stlcin.missouri.org/index/contact-budget-ideas.cfm.

"We're facing a fiscally tough situation," said Mayor Slay. "A lot of special interests will weigh in on the budget. We want to make sure our constituents are heard as well."

Currently, the City is reviewing a list of ideas as possible options to help solve the budget problem. The City's fiscal year starts July 1 and nothing will be officially proposed until the budget is sent to E&A at the end of April.

All ideas, comments, and suggestions are welcome.

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