STLPR0%
St. Louis policymakers getting closer to dividing Rams settlement proceeds 38%
By Jason Rosenbaum0%
5/7/2026, 9:53:04 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 24 faulty reasoning types, including False Dilemma, Anchoring Bias, and Post Hoc (False Cause), with Pessimism Bias as the most egregious example at 10.2% saturation with 71 hits. Analysis detected 779 faulty-reasoning hits from 694 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 43.8% and a BS Rank of 38% (13,742 of 21,886 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 62.80% of the article peer group.
A plan to divide St.
Louis’ share of a settlement stemming from the departure of the St.
Louis Rams is starting to come into view.
For months, St.
Louis policymakers have been discussing how to spend roughly $250 million the city received from the Rams settlement.
Earlier efforts to divide the funds in 2025 faltered, as The Board of Aldermen chose to wait until after the spring election cycle.
According to people close to negotiations, roughly $110 million would go toward tornado relief and development opportunities in north St.
Louis.
That could include funds to repair houses damaged by the tornado and support construction of new housing across north St.
Louis.
It could also back north St.
Louis neighborhood plans to bolster housing stock and small businesses.
Roughly $55 million would go for projects in downtown St.
Louis, including improving pedestrian infrastructure and creating a new dock on the Mississippi River.
There would also be money available to stabilize places like the vacant Railway Exchange Building.
Another $65 million would go toward city infrastructure needs, including $30 million specifically toward water-related projects.
And $25 million would be kept in reserve.
Mayor Cara Spencer told reporters on Thursday that the goal of Rams allocation is to address the city’s key needs while understanding that the settlement cannot solve every long-term problem.
She also said that the city wanted to wait to allocate Rams money to help victims of the May 16 tornado until it figured out what federal and state funds it could receive.
“It can't address the $700 million the water department needs.
It can't address the decades of not having an adequate plan to invest in our streets and other infrastructure.
It can't possibly revitalize entirely downtown.
This is not an amount of money that can do all these things,” Spencer said.
“And so instead, what we're doing here is making sizable investments in some very key areas … but recognizing that we cannot do everything with this.”
Alderman Rasheen Aldridge of the 14th Ward said that while the legislative process could ultimately change the final distribution of funds, his colleagues are “not far from getting a bill across the finish line.”
“I think if we can tweak some numbers to put some more into north St.
Louis, but still have a large amount going into downtown, have a nice amount going into city wide infrastructure, I could see something like this getting across the finish line,” Aldridge said.
“I think it helps that this bill doesn't just help one part of St Louis.
I think it helps everybody.”
Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier of the 7th Ward said the negotiations over the Rams money have been less contentious than when the subject came up last year – primarily because those involved agree that more help needs to go to tornado victims.
“Homeowners are now homeless – and thousands of them, not a small portion of them,” Sonnier said.
“And we know that our city's sustainability is linked to our need to support these communities that arguably already needed the support.
But whereas that might have been a conversation to have before, there's no denying the need now because of the tornado.
So that has also made this conversation just a lot easier of a conversation to have.”
Still, Sonnier said she would like to see some of the funds invested in the city’s children.
She pointed out how some of the public infrastructure funds could go toward redeveloping recreational centers.
She added that there should be conversations about whether those funds go solely for capital improvements or programming.
“I think that the city should not spend a quarter of a billion dollars and not invest in our children.
I think that's really important that we create spaces,” Sonnier said.
“I keep hearing that constantly from residents, especially since there was the implementation of the curfew.”
In the meantime, Board of Aldermen President Megan Green’s office said on Thursday that a portal will be available soon detailing the breakdown of how the Rams funds are being spent.
It will also provide space for public feedback.
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