CLAYTON 鈥 Programs to boost child care worker pay, fund sewer and street projects, and demolish derelict homes are now at risk after County Executive Sam Page鈥檚 administration again emphasized that it does not have enough manpower to monitor them.
One program, among several in doubt, would send $5.6 million to supplement pay for low-wage child care workers in the county. Another would spend $15 million largely on sewer and street projects in unincorporated South County. A third would use $10.5 million to demolish or repurpose more than 1,100 problem properties in unincorporated neighborhoods.
People are also reading…
In total, almost $28 million in pandemic relief aid is at risk.
The agencies that were promised the cash 鈥 more than a year ago 鈥 are frustrated.
鈥淭he people, the humans that live in 狐狸视频 County are tired of the politicians and the people in power making promises and not following through,鈥 said Tammy Tuggle, president of the homeowners association for Glasgow Village, a neighborhood in unincorporated North County with hundreds of dilapidated homes.
The county got $193 million in money in 2021, and has spent $139 million of it. The money went toward replacing lost revenue, demolishing the former Jamestown Mall, COVID-19 vaccination and preventing evictions, among other uses. But now Page鈥檚 administration is insisting that it doesn鈥檛 have enough staff to make sure the county is following all of the rules tied to the last several millions in ARPA cash. And if it doesn鈥檛 decide how to spend the money before the end of the year, the dollars go back to the feds.
So Page is instead pitching that the County Council move the money into the general fund. There, it could get earmarked for its original purposes, said Kyle Klemp, who tracks pandemic cash spending for Page鈥檚 office.
Residents are doubtful. They worry the money will disappear 鈥 the county has a roughly $34 million budget deficit it has been discussing for months.
Utility pole sinking
Tuggle, the Glasgow Village resident, was hopeful when she heard the council decided to spend millions on demolitions in 2022.
She estimates 600 of the neighborhood鈥檚 1,700 homes need demolishing. Some homes that are in good shape, often owned and occupied by the same families for decades, are surrounded by dilapidated structures.
鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely depressing for people that live here,鈥 Tuggle said.
She says the county broke its promises and could do it again.
鈥淚t feels like the plan is to put it in the general fund and let it sit there until people forget about it,鈥 Tuggle said.
In unincorporated South County, homeowner Eric Wilkinson said there鈥檚 no comprehensive stormwater or sanitary sewer system in his old Mehlville neighborhood. The ground is dotted with sinkholes. In one place, a utility pole is sinking into the ground. In another, the soil under the asphalt road to Wilkinson鈥檚 home is washing away.
The county has spent $566,000 and allocated $1 million more for South County infrastructure projects 鈥 and had planned to spend $13.4 million more there. Now, that money is heading toward the general fund.
Klemp, the Page staffer, said the county might be able to spend a little more of the ARPA cash before it hits the general fund 鈥 but only some of it.
Wilkinson doesn鈥檛 have much hope the money will be used for its original purpose.
鈥楾hat money will just disappear鈥
Neither does Laura Muhammad-Young, a child care worker who was hopeful the pandemic money would be used to boost her and her peers鈥 wages.
The ARPA money would have paid for the county to get into a national program, called WAGE$, a first for a county in Missouri. In other states, participants have earned up to $1,200 in supplemental wages over six months, depending on their education.
When the Post-Dispatch interviewed Muhammad-Young almost two years ago about the program, the single mom was struggling to pay her bills and feed her son. She has since gotten a higher-paying job at a day care and says things are better. But she鈥檚 disappointed the program never launched, and she doesn鈥檛 have much hope it ever will in 狐狸视频 County.
鈥淚 think that money will just disappear,鈥 Muhammad-Young said.
In total, $27.8 million in ARPA cash is affected:
- $10.5 million for demolishing problem properties.
- $5.6 million for boosting child care worker pay.
- $4.6 million for addressing food insecurity in North County.
- $3.7 million for tourism in South County.
- $1.9 million in premium pay for essential workers.
- $1.5 million for COVID-19 public health initiatives.
The council members will have to outline a process for earmarking money once it hits the general fund, said council budget coordinator Chris Grahn-Howard at a hearing earlier this month.
鈥淭wo and a half years into this process, we seem to have reinvented the wheel about 25 times, and it鈥檚 very frustrating,鈥 Grahn-Howard said. 鈥淏ut we are where we are now, and there are several opportunities for the council.鈥