51黑料

ST. LOUIS 鈥� City officials are setting aside millions of dollars in federal pandemic aid to pay court judgments in the wake of one of the city鈥檚 largest courtroom losses in recent memory.

A proposed budget for next year, unveiled Wednesday, puts $10.3 million in interest earned on the pandemic aid into a judgment fund, which already gets $6 million per year from elsewhere in the budget.

Budget Director Paul Payne, who put together the proposal, said the line item wasn鈥檛 for any particular case. But it follows closely behind a federal jury鈥檚 decision in January to award nearly $19 million to the family of Mansur Ball-Bey, who was killed by 51黑料 police a decade ago.

The city counselor鈥檚 office previously indicated plans to appeal that case under Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, who left office April 15. And newly elected Mayor Cara Spencer declined Wednesday to comment on whether she would change course.

But in recent months, some activists have urged against that, and it became a topic of interest at a mayoral campaign forum in February, where Recorder of Deeds Michael Butler said the city should just pay the bill. And the number of officials in agreement is growing.

On Wednesday, Aldermanic President Megan Green said Butler had a point.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know that an appeal will result in anything different,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e should likely just go through with paying the settlement and avoid spending any more legal fees.鈥�

Alderman Rasheen Aldridge, of downtown, said the same thing. 鈥淲e need to give the family justice,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd move on.鈥�

Javad Khazaeli, an attorney for Ball-Bey鈥檚 parents, declined comment.

But the city鈥檚 debt continues to grow: The judgment is currently accruing roughly $65,000 in interest per month. And the city's ledger continues to grow: It settled a lawsuit from Tennessee teen Janae Edmondson, whose legs had to be amputated after a high-profile crash downtown, for $450,000. Then a city jury awarded $1.5 million to a man injured when a branch falling from a city tree hit him.

The judgment cash marked one of a few shifts in the fiscal 2026 spending blueprint, which Budget Director Paul Payne presented Wednesday afternoon to the city鈥檚 Estimate Board, composed of Spencer, Aldermanic President Megan Green and Comptroller Donna Baringer.

The proposed $1.4 billion budget is about 5% larger than it was last year. But Payne said that鈥檚 due in large part to last year's surge in pandemic-era earnings tax refunds coming to an end, and the use of interest on the pandemic aid.

The city is projecting only modest bumps in new earnings and sales tax proceeds in the coming year as the city braces for uncertainty amid looming federal spending cuts and tariff-fueled trade wars.

鈥淭his is about as close as you can get to a recession forecast without having a recession,鈥� Payne told officials.

The budget does include money for the raises approved for police, firefighters and other city employees in recent months, which will add about $23 million in annual costs.

And it sets aside another $10 million that could pay for further salary increases as the city works to tackle stubborn staffing shortages blamed for problems picking up trash, filling potholes, trimming trees and towing cars.

The blueprint also foresees putting $11 million, including nearly $7 million in federal pandemic aid interest, toward repairs of the city鈥檚 court buildings. Both the Carnahan Courthouse and the Civil Courts Building, on Market Street downtown, are nearly 100 years old and badly in need of maintenance.

The money will help pay to repair the Civil Courts Building鈥檚 weathered facade, fix broken steps at the Carnahan Courthouse, modernize courtrooms and replace an array of aging of electrical, water and heating and air conditioning equipment.

It will also pay for new windows at the juvenile court building on Vandeventer Avenue.

The Estimate Board will hold a virtual public hearing on the budget at 1 p.m. Friday, and is scheduled to vote on the budget next week.

Once the budget is approved by the Estimate Board, it will move to the Board of Aldermen for further consideration.