By Adam Allington, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – The St. Louis Board of Aldermen is being asked to approve a bond issue to help pay down the city's ballooning pension obligations.
The financing would direct $125 million dollars toward outstanding police, firefighter and city employee pensions.
Steve Conway, the alderman sponsoring the bill, says in the long term the choices come down to cutting staff or reducing benefits.
"What level of staffing do we want to keep if we're going to continue to provide these benefits?"
"And then that's a determination that the public has to be part of and say Do we need this many firefighters, do we want this many police officers?"
Representatives from the mayor's office say the city has enough money to cover debt service on the bonds.
If approved the bond issue does not need to be approved by voters.