Nearly half of the $150 million in federal COVID relief funds Mayor Tishaura Jones proposes to spend to bring economic justice to North City would go to a “pillar” that includes addressing the city’s long-running vacant property problem.
That’s according to a 12-page “Roadmap to Economic Justice,” released Monday by the mayor and the St. Louis Development Corporation. The document adds details to the broad outline for the $150 million in American Rescue Plan Act spending Jones announced in her recent State of the City address.
Under the mayor’s proposal – which must obtain approval from the Board of Aldermen and the Board of Estimate and Apportionment – $70 million would go to the largest of three “pillars”: “neighborhood transformation.” That includes “capacity building, vacancy [abatement] and environmental justice” and improving housing accessibility.
The city has more than 20,000 vacant lots and buildings, according to the Saint Louis Vacancy Collaborative, a coalition of community members, private and non-profit groups, and city agencies “committed to reducing vacant property in St. Louis.works,” according to the collaborative’s website.
The next largest chunk of ARPA funds – $31 million – would go to the “empowerment,” pillar, including business empowerment, workforce development and educational justice, according to the proposal. The remaining $27 million would be used for “equitable and inclusive development,” including crafting an “equitable, transparent and accountable” model for handing out economic incentives.
The proposal comes as the city faces a shrinking Black population and as large sections of the territory meet the definition of “qualified census tracts,” where incomes are below 60% of the “area median gross income” or have a poverty rate of 25% or higher.
Within the St. Louis city boundaries, 59.2% of the land is in such tracts and they are home to 52.9% of the residents, “elevating the importance of prioritizing economic justice,” the report said.
“Addressing the racial disparities in real estate, business, and employment will lay the foundation for growth in every one of our neighborhoods,” Jones said in an introduction to the report. “Equitable development is necessary to reverse decades of population decline and make St. Louis a place where families want to live and grow.”
In a “Final Rule,” the U.S. Treasury Department, which oversees ARPA funding, encourages cities to use ARPA funds to address the negative economic impacts experienced by communities hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. Communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by the deadly virus, both in terms of levels of illness and economic impact.
Last year, the mayor and Board of Aldermen president Lewis Reed were at odds over a plan to spend $33 million in COVID funds in North City. Jones vetoed the spending plan after information she obtained indicated economic development spending was not an appropriate use for the COVID relief funds.
The new report notes that while “general economic development” is not considered an eligible use of ARPA funds, the rule allows funds to be used for affordable housing, small business assistance, job training, improvements to vacant properties, and stabilization of schools, hospitals and childcare facilities.
Overall, the economic justice proposal seeks to “strengthen neighborhoods, eliminate the wealth gap, improve health and educational outcomes, expand the tax base” and boost the city’s population, which dipped by 6% from 2010 to 301,578, according to the 2020 Census.
The proposal includes:
– Launching a “Develop a College Promise” program to provide graduating high school seniors with financial support for college-level education and/or short-term certification programs free of charge, and investing in adult education and literacy, including technology training and digital literacy programs to help bridge the digital divide;
– Building technical assistance programs to help small, minority, and woman-owned businesses with certification, licensing, tax support, marketing, legal, and other professional services;
– Establishing a revolving loan fund to provide small, minority, and woman-owned businesses and nonprofits with low-interest loans and long-term capital to start up, mobilize projects, and scale up operations;
– Addressing size, structure and staffing levels at the Land Reutilization Authority, and integrating LRA data with city services;
– Funding land maintenance and clean-up, and clearing of vacant properties for strategic redevelopment and empowering neighborhood-based organizations to participate in the stewardship of LRA properties;
– Financing vacant building stabilization through preservation and rehabilitation when possible, and authorizing quality demolition or deconstruction when necessary. Priority would be given to historic buildings and neighborhoods by providing grants and forgivable loans for historic projects and establishment of historic districts
– Improving city code enforcement.
The effort, which would see a wave of spending through Dec. 31 , 2024, will begin with a series of neighborhood association meetings, issue roundtables, and town halls to get residents’ input. The first town hall will be at the O’Fallon Park Recreation Complex May 11 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. A second town hall will be held May 17 at Meramec Elementary School, also from 6-8p.m.
The city already has outlined plans $96 million in ARPA funds, meaning up to $246 million could be used to attempt to reverse decades of disinvestment.
“We have a remarkable opportunity before us” Jones said in the report, “and we must seize it.”
