ST. LOUIS — Treasurer Tishaura Jones says she may be forced to lay off almost two dozen employees at the parking division if her longtime political rival continues to block her office from borrowing money.
Jones said Alderman Jeffrey Boyd has not scheduled hearings at the Streets, Traffic and Refuse committee for two bills introduced at the beginning of October. The bills would allow Jones’ office to secure a $5 million line of credit, and refinance debt. They’re essential, she said, to close a funding gap for a parking division hit hard by the cancellation of sports and concerts, which drive revenue at meters and garages.
“We’re hitting the deadline,†Jones said. “We were trying to have this done by now.â€
She called Boyd’s lack of action “sabotage†that will force her office to lay off about 16 full-time and seven part-time employees in an office of about 100. She suspects the bill authorizing the loan is being held up for political reasons by Boyd, who lost to her in the race for ºüÀêÊÓƵ treasurer this year.
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“Don’t take it out on my employees,†Jones said.
Big revenue losses are expected to mount until mid-2021, partly due to cancellation of sports events and concerts.
The treasurer’s office made a presentation to the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Parking Commission in late September about the line of credit. Jones’ staff expects revenue to be down from its budget this year by about $5.5 million, or about 31%. The office is already spending through reserves, Jones said. Aldermen in June also transferred $5 million from the treasurer’s reserves to general revenue to help weather the pandemic’s financial impact.
Boyd, who also sits on the Parking Commission, voted at the September meeting to pass a resolution asking the Board of Aldermen to allow Jones to arrange the $5 million line of credit.
Boyd did not immediately return a request for comment Monday.
Jones said past financing bills for her office have gone through the Ways and Means Committee on the Board of Aldermen, and she questioned why Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed assigned the bills to Boyd’s committee.
Jones is a candidate for Mayor in the 2021 election, and Reed has formed a committee suggesting he may also make another run for the top city office.
Tishaura Jones, who is strongly considering running again for mayor next year, first faces an Aug. 4 Democratic primary challenge from Alderman Jeffrey Boyd in her bid for a third term as treasurer.
Reed’s chief of staff, Tom Shepard, said measures that go through the Parking Commission are assigned to the Streets Traffic and Refuse Committee per the Board of Aldermen’s rules.
â€This type of attention-seeking behavior from a citywide elected official is sad and a waste of time, considering our citizens need much less of that and much more effort seeking real solutions to real problems, which is what President Reed works for on a daily basis,†Shepard said in a statement.
Two bills are in question. The first looks for bids on the credit line. The second would allow the parking division to refinance about $5 million in debt from a $6.4 million 2015 bond issue. The new bond issue would be worth up to $5.4 million to refund the remaining balance of the 2015 bonds and pay expenses.
Jones said the refinancing will reduce the interest rate to 1.99% from 3.5%. A memo from her office’s financial adviser, Jackson, Mississippi-based Comer Capital Group, estimates the refinancing will save the city about $220,000 in current dollars over the life of the bonds. She urged aldermen to move quickly so her office can lock in those terms.
Comer has worked with the Treasurer’s office on several bond financings in recent years. Last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Comer Capital with providing poor advice to a library district in the Chicago area that will cost the district over $500,000 more in interest on a bond offering. The SEC complaint is still pending in federal court and the two sides are in settlement discussions.
Jones said Comer Capital has been transparent with her office about that complaint.
“If SEC complaints were a litmus test of whether or not a firm should be used,†she said, “a lot of firms, even some of the larger ones here locally, wouldn’t pass that test.â€