Board of Estimate Apportionment Meeting Summary - December 17, 2025
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Board of Estimate Apportionment Meeting Summary - December 17, 2025
The Board of Estimate Apportionment convened on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, at 06:00:00 UTC to review eight items presented for the first time. The meeting focused primarily on administrative contract approvals, airport concession amendments, and a significant governance restructuring for the St. Louis Police Department. Budget Director Paul Payne provided an advisory clarification on the police governance item, detailing specific personnel transfers and budget reallocations. The Board proceeded to approve all items unanimously without objection before adjourning.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of contracts and leases from various city departments (Exhibit A).
- Approval of intra-departmental and inter-departmental transfer requests (Exhibit B).
- Approval of transfers between capital improvement projects (Exhibit C).
- Approval of the city's assessment maintenance plan for the fiscal period January 1, 2026, through December 31, 2027.
- Approval of Board Bill No. 2 (to be determined) amending a news gift specialty concession agreement (AL212) with H.G. St. Louis, JV II (Hudson Group/HG Retail) to extend the term through January 31, 2031.
- Approval of Board Bill No. 2 (to be determined) amending an electronics retail concession agreement (AL214) with H.G. St. Louis, JV II (Hudson Group/HG Retail) to extend the term through January 31, 2031.
- Approval of Board Bill No. 1112 floor substitute making a supplemental appropriation of $350,000 with an emergency clause to the Department of Health for fiscal year FY 2025-2026.
Discussion Items
- Police Department Governance Structure:
- Budget Director Paul Payne clarified the St. Louis Police Department's request for a new governance structure, noting the original 40-page submission was condensed into four key budget items for Board approval.
- Payne stated the Board would be approving: (1) adding a secretary and a purchasing agent position within the Board's personnel schedule without external fund movement; (2) deleting five units from the Department of Personnel and creating similar positions directly within the Police Department, shifting funding from the internal service bond to direct departmental funding; (3) eliminating 13 City Councilor units and creating seven positions directly within the Police Department previously funded via the internal service fund; and (4) executing four specific budget transfers (168, 169, 170, 171) to cover salaries and benefits related to these personnel changes, split into four transfers due to a $250,000 per transfer limit.
- Mayor Spencer and the Board requested discussion on the presented items; no additional questions or comments were raised by Board members regarding the police proposal or other items.
Key Outcomes
- The Board approved all eight items presented for the first time via a roll call vote (Mayor Spencer, Comptroller Barrington, President Green all voted 'Aye' or 'Approve') with no dissenting voices recorded.
- No motions for further discussion were entertained.
- The meeting was adjourned immediately following the unanimous approval of the agenda items.
Meeting Transcript
Thank you. I would like to call the regular meeting of the Board of Estimate Apportionment for Wednesday, December 17th, 2025 to order. Ms. Johnson, will you please call the roll? Mayor Spencer. Present. Comptroller Barrington. Present. President Green. Present. All app present. Thank you. We have set of seven items on the agenda presented for the first time today. Item number one, a request from the controller's office for EA approval of contracts and leases from various city departments is listed in exhibit A. Item number two, request from the controller's office for EA approval of intra-departmental and interdepartmental transfer transfers from various city departments as listed in exhibit B. Item number three, a request from the Comptroller's Office for ENA approval of transfers between projects for capital improvements funds as listed in exhibit C. Item number four, request from the access assessor's office for approval of the city's assessment maintenance plan for January 1st, 2026 through December 31st, 2027. Item number five, a request from the director of airports for the approval of board bill to be determined numbered to be determined. This ordinance authorizes a first amendment to news gift specialty concession agreement AL212 with H G St. Louis, JV the second, Hudson Group, HG Retail, LLC. The term of agreement began February 1st, 2013. And by the second amendment will end January 31st, 2031. Item number six, the request from the director of airports for approval of board bill number two be determined. This ordinance authorizes a second amendment to electronics retail concession agreement AL214 with HG St. Louis, JV the second, Hudson Group HG Retail LLC. The term of agreement began December 1, 2015, and by the second amendment will end January 31st, 2031. Item number seven is a request from the Board of Police Commissioners for approval to create the governance structure for the St. Louis Police Department that will allow the Board of Police Commissioners to execute its statutory duties. And item number eight is a request from the Board of Alderman Office of the President for approval of board bill number one eleven. Board bill number one twelve floor substitute. This ordinance is making a supplemental appropriation to the annual budget ordinance 71995 for fiscal year beginning January July 1st, 2025 and ending June 30th, 2026 in the sum of 350,000 authorizing the director of the Department of Health to expend funds containing an emergency clause. And now I'd like to open up for discussion on items presented for the first time and ask uh director uh budget director Paul Payne. Um, if he had specifically had some advisement related to item number seven. Yes, thank you, Mayor. Um, I would like to point out that what you have in your packet is uh is uh on top of the uh request we received from the police department. They they submitted a 40-page request, and I what we wanted to try to do is uh uh concisely state what this board would be approving. So what on on top of their the request we've got is a document that states boardable ENA a response to request from St. Louis Board of uh letter data 12525. That includes four budget items. And uh and I'll list them as follows. You're adding uh to their department personnel schedule a secretary to the board, adding a position of purchasing agent. That's their supply position. And those positions don't require any any movement of funds that they do that within the salary accounts exist. The third item is deleting the uh police unit of the department of personnel and then creating similar, although not the same, but similar positions within the police department. Currently, those are budgeted in internal service bond. Now they would be uh funded directly in within the police department. So you you're deleting five positions in that fund and the internal service bond and adding the uh uh five additional other positions into the police department directly. And finally, it it you're uh the proposals to eliminate 13 of the positions for the city councillors uh unit uh within the on uh for the police department with that is currently within the city councilor and creating seven positions within the police department directly. Again, these are being provided currently or had been providing up to this point through the internal service fund. Uh, but now would be uh the department wishes to hire its own positions within their department.
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