ST. LOUIS – Inside City Hall Monday afternoon, city officials explained to the public their plan to find money for the city.
“I am announcing the formation of the city’s first long-term revenue advisory council,” Mayor Tishaura Jones said. “Executive Order 80 will establish a 12-member advisory board that’s charged with exploring and recommending strategies for long-term diversification, stability, growth, and sustainability of revenue in the City of St. Louis.”
Gregory F.X. Daly, Treasurer Adam Layne, and Jason Fletcher from the Comptroller’s Office joined Jones to announce the new plans.
The 12-member council will meet monthly, recommending a plan in six months. Some of its members include a financial institution leader, a municipal financial advisor, a business community member, and a member of the St. Louis Federal Reserve.
The announcement comes on the heels of the city losing a Missouri Court of Appeals case. Now, the city must repay the 1% earnings tax it collected on workers who worked remotely outside the city during the pandemic.
Beginning July 1 through September 20 of this year, eligible taxpayers can apply for a refund between tax years 2020 and 2022. The 2023 refund window will remain open until April 25, 2025.
“The procedure is set in place and it’s going to begin July 1 and go up for 90 days,” Daly said. “Depending on how many people apply, we don’t have any idea at this stage of the game, we’ll probably give some reasoning on how we proceed on this.”
Jones said the 2025 fiscal year city budget included a $26 million contingency based on pending litigation and legislation that reduced or eliminated the city’s earning’s tax. The earnings tax is the city’s single largest source of revenue for St. Louis.
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