ST. LOUIS 鈥 The region is leaving at least $14,000 on the table every day 鈥 and likely thousands more than that 鈥 because 狐狸视频 and 狐狸视频 County leaders won鈥檛 sign off on moving NFL Rams settlement money to higher-yield accounts.
That鈥檚 the view of the Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority (RSA), whose members voted unanimously Wednesday to urge the city and county to park the funds in accounts that pay more while settlement talks continue.
It was the second time since June that the RSA, which owns The Dome at America鈥檚 Center where the Rams once played, made that request of the city and county.
狐狸视频, 狐狸视频 County and the RSA have been negotiating behind closed doors for months over how to divide the $514.2 million received from Rams owner Stan Kroenke and the NFL to settle the lawsuit over the team鈥檚 relocation to Los Angeles.
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In the less than five months the settlement money has sat in an account yielding 1.44%, it鈥檚 earned $1.5 million in interest. And in the current environment of rising interest rates, some board members believe the money could easily earn at least another 1% in safe investments.
The move needs only the approval of County Executive Sam Page and 狐狸视频 Mayor Tishaura O. Jones. RSA board members weren鈥檛 clear why the city and county leaders hadn鈥檛 yet approved the move.
鈥淎ll I can say is what we want to do,鈥 Chrissy Nardini, an appointee of Gov. Mike Parson who sponsored the resolution to issue a request for proposals from new fund managers, said when asked why the city and county weren鈥檛 signing off.
Erv Switzer, the Greensfelder attorney hired by the RSA to represent it in negotiations with the city and county, told the Post-Dispatch 鈥渢here鈥檚 been discussions,鈥 about moving the money but declined to comment further.
Dave Spence, another Parson appointee, called the lack of action from city and county 鈥減aralysis by analysis.鈥 He said while the three parties finish negotiating how to split the money, they could easily be earning another 2% on it, worth some $28,000 a day. He estimates the lack of action by city and county has already cost the region $3 million in unrealized gains.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 care who you are, that鈥檚 a lot of cheddar,鈥 Spence said. 鈥淭hat pays a lot of bills. It would pay for overtime to get the trash off of city streets.鈥
The mayor and county executive each get three appointments to the commission, and those appointees joined with the governor鈥檚 picks to urge the city and county to quickly move the money.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just common sense,鈥 said RSA Board Chairman Earl Nance, a city appointee. 鈥淲e should have been doing this.鈥
Page spokesman Doug Moore said in a statement that 鈥渨e expect to have an agreement soon鈥 on a higher-yielding investment account.
鈥淲e may have a disagreement about the risk we should take in uncertain economic conditions,鈥 Moore added.
In a statement, Jones spokesman Nick Desideri said the city hopes 鈥渢o reach an agreement that will yield a high-interest investment while providing flexibility when negotiations are complete.鈥
The settlement was only put into the interest-bearing account in late April, and it was unclear if it had earned any interest in the nearly five previous months.
The NFL settlement 鈥 a total of $790 million with a third going to the attorneys who filed the lawsuit 鈥 was announced in late November, but there was no agreement on how much the city, the county and the RSA would receive. The three entities have been in negotiations, but the tenor and progress of those talks have been unclear.
鈥淭here needs to be more of a spirit of cooperation between to the three parties to come to a resolution,鈥 Spence said.
Former Kansas City Mayor Sly James is helping to mediate the negotiations, and each side has cases to make about who was most harmed. T. 狐狸视频 County, for its part, was not part of financing plans for the ill-fated 2015 effort to build a new stadium to keep the Rams here, though it later was part of the lawsuit that ended in the settlement.
The RSA needs money to maintain the Dome and pay for capital improvements. It gets $4 million a year, half from the state and $1 million each from the city and county. But that agreement expires in 2024, and the settlement is seen as a way to continue maintaining the Dome for events and conventions in the coming years.
In the short term, the RSA is running out of operating cash, making a resolution for the entity more urgent than for the city and county. RSA Executive Director Marty Finn said 鈥渨orst case scenario鈥 is that the Dome authority burns through operating cash at the end of March.
The RSA board plans to meet monthly for the next six months as it pushes for a settlement in that time. The RSA鈥檚 share is likely to be less than one-third of the money, Nance, the RSA chair, acknowledged. His earlier comments about one-third being 鈥渇air鈥 for the RSA was a 鈥渉opeful鈥 early bargaining position, he said.
鈥淲e know exactly what we need and we know what we need to use it for, and once we reach that agreement we鈥檒l of course be going public about how much it is and what it will be used for,鈥 Nance said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all about pushing our way to a settlement right now.鈥