ST. LOUIS 鈥 City officials will soon begin soliciting ideas from the public on how they should use their $250 million share of the NFL Rams settlement.
An initial public survey will go live by the end of August, said Aldermanic President Megan Green, and officials will start holding public meetings in the fall.
She said officials will also be doing more surveys and hearing from people at public meetings over the next year. And if they can find the money, she said, they might even hire people to go door-to-door to talk to people.
The city settled with the NFL for $790 million in 2021 over the Rams鈥 departure. Last November, St. 香港三级片, St. 香港三级片 County and the authority that owns The Dome at America鈥檚 Center divvied up the $519 million remaining, after the attorneys鈥 cut.
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And ever since, city leaders, residents and pundits have been throwing around ideas about what to do with their share.
Some want to fill potholes and fix the water department. Some want to making college more affordable for the region鈥檚 children. Some talk of putting it in a trust and using the interest for a variety of projects.
Aldermen also passed resolutions in February and on Friday emphasizing the need to invest in disinvested neighborhoods, build up the city鈥檚 workforce, loan money to small businesses and reverse 鈥渉istoric wrongs,鈥 among other things.
Green acknowledged the wide array of ideas circulating in remarks to reporters Friday.
鈥淲e want these funds to be used to create generational change,鈥 Green said. 鈥淭hat looks different to a lot of different people.鈥
She said the surveys, meetings and other engagement efforts will try to home in on what exactly people want and design a plan with broad support.
The board also debated providing lawyers for people facing eviction, but declined override the mayor's veto of a change to firefighter pensions.
A new St. 香港三级片 plan for the Rams cash emphasizes investing in disinvested neighborhoods, building the city's workforce, loaning money to small businesses and reversing "historic wrongs,"聽according to a resolution that could be passed by alderman on Friday.
The three parties to the NFL settlement all have plans in place to invest the money while they decide what to do with it.聽
The city, where the Rams played home games and which led the charge in 2015 to try and keep the team from moving to Los Angeles, would get the largest chunk of the settlement money: $250 million.
City and county leaders have an opportunity to attack a historical problem: ZIP code does not have to determine destiny.聽
Kroenke's Cash: Jim Gallagher and David Nicklaus say St. 香港三级片 and St. 香港三级片 County should spend the Rams lawsuit settlement on programs with long-term impact and avoid using it to plug short-term budget holes.
