St. Louis County Executive Sam Page is pushing the county council to act quickly and reallocate more than $12 million to complete projects that were funded but not finished.
“This delayed timeline to reappropriate these funds has put us in a tough position,” Page said Tuesday at a media availability. “We have contracts that we agreed on and projects that are currently underway, but we don't have any way to pay for them.”
It’s common for projects that are part of the budget in one year to not be completed before the end of that year. The council regularly votes the following year to reallocate money to finish the work.
But this year, the council has not yet acted to make sure that 2024 work is completed, despite legislation to do so being introduced in February.
The delay is already causing problems, Page said. Detainees at the county jail who receive medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder have been unable to get the required injections.
The delay, Page said, has “escalated from an operational challenge to a full-blown crisis. According to the correction medicine team, it’s severely impacting patient safety, staff morale and the overall stability of the facility.”
Although Page and council members are regularly at odds, he said his call for quick action is not a criticism of them.
“I understand the council members are charged with being fiscally responsible, and I appreciate all they have to do to put together the budget,” he said. “The council has to make a really tough decision whether it wants to commit to these previously agreed-upon and approved projects, or if they want to go in a different direction.”
The council is set to meet as a committee of the whole on Wednesday to hear from departments affected by the delay. It will not take public comment.
