ST. LOUIS, MO – October 3, 2026 (STL.News) St. Louis Development Corporation President and CEO Stephen Westbrooks is entering the final months of a federal spending race as the city works to convert millions of dollars in previously committed American Rescue Plan Act funding into completed projects and expenditures before a year-end deadline.
The challenge is substantial, although determining exactly how much remains for SLDC to spend today is more complicated than simply subtracting expenditures from the original federal awards.
The City of St. Louis’ latest publicly available American Rescue Plan Act expenditure database reports spending only through June 30, 2026. The data was last updated Aug. 13, leaving a reporting gap between the city’s published figures and current spending. City records distinguish among money that has been appropriated, money that has been “programmed” through approved contracts and agreements, and money actually recorded as expended.
That distinction is critical.
Millions of dollars associated with SLDC and other city development programs were fully programmed but had not yet been recorded as expenditures as of June 30. That does not mean the money was unallocated, nor does it establish how much remains unspent as of Oct. 3.
What it does show is the size of the spending pipeline facing city development officials as the federal deadline approaches.
Federal relief spending faces Dec. 31 deadline
The American Rescue Plan’s State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program required recipients to obligate funding by Dec. 31, 2024. Obligated funds generally must be expended by Dec. 31, 2026, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Certain surface transportation and Title I projects faced an earlier Sept. 30 deadline.
Treasury guidance also makes clear that the final expenditure deadline carries consequences. Excess funds not properly expended by the applicable deadline may be subject to return to the federal government.
That leaves St. Louis with less than three months to close out eligible expenditures under the general Dec. 31 deadline.
The urgency was apparent from the beginning of Westbrooks’ tenure.
Westbrooks was sworn in as SLDC president and CEO on March 30. Mayor Cara Spencer identified deployment of the remaining ARPA funds as one of the priorities for the new development chief, along with vacancy, tornado recovery, downtown development and neighborhood commercial districts.
Westbrooks said at the time that he had “a real urgency to learn quickly” as he assumed leadership of the city’s economic development agency.
Six months later, that urgency has become a race against a federal clock.
The city had $102 million unexpended in June
Across the entire City of St. Louis — not just SLDC — the scale of remaining expenditures was considerable as of June 30.
The city’s ARPA database lists approximately $498.08 million in total appropriations, all reported as programmed.
Recorded expenditures totaled approximately $395.87 million, or 79.5% of the total.
That left a difference of about $102.2 million between programmed funds and recorded expenditures across all 416 city ARPA projects as of the June 30 reporting cutoff.
That $102.2 million should not be characterized as money the city had failed to allocate. The city’s records say the full $498 million had been programmed.
Nor should it be characterized as the city’s current Oct. 3 balance because expenditures have continued since June.
Instead, the figure demonstrates how much federally funded activity still had to move through the expenditure process during the second half of the year.
Major development ordinance was 58% expended
The same pattern appears in Ordinance 71592, one of the major packages covering housing, neighborhood development and related programs.
City records identify 45 ARPA projects under the ordinance with approximately $88.66 million appropriated and programmed.
As of June 30, approximately $51.40 million had been expended, representing 58% of the total.
The difference was approximately $37.26 million.
That figure requires an important qualification: Ordinance 71592 includes projects involving multiple city departments, authorities, and organizations. The $37.26 million difference therefore cannot accurately be described as an SLDC-only balance.
Nevertheless, several individual projects directly involving SLDC or development authorities working with the agency showed significant gaps between programmed funds and recorded expenditures.
Housing money remained in the pipeline
Affordable housing provides one example.
The city’s ARPA database lists eight projects in its affordable-housing category totaling approximately $30.66 million.
All of that money was programmed, but approximately $20.37 million — 66.5% — had been recorded as expended by June 30.
Among those projects was an SLDC Housing Development Pool with $2.5 million appropriated and programmed but no expenditures recorded in the city’s June 30 data.
Another program — Citywide Housing Development through SLDC — had approximately $3.07 million programmed and about $1.61 million recorded as expended.
The Down Payment Assistance Program had $3.8 million programmed and approximately $2.34 million expended, leaving a difference of roughly $1.46 million as of June 30.
That program provides a useful example of how the accounting numbers translate into assistance for residents.
In May, SLDC announced that it was reopening HomeSTL, its first-time homebuyer assistance program, with $1 million in remaining ARPA funding.
HomeSTL offers eligible buyers up to $50,000 as a no-interest, forgivable loan. Applicants must meet income and other requirements and purchase a home in the City of St. Louis.
SLDC said the program was initially paused after heavy demand consumed its original allocation, and that the remaining funding would be made available to additional qualified applicants.
North City funding shows another large gap
One of the largest SLDC-related entries in the citywide database is the North City Commercial Corridors: SLDC program.
The city’s June 30 data lists $37 million appropriated and programmed for the program but approximately $12.76 million in recorded expenditures.
That represents a difference of more than $24 million between programmed funds and expenditures at the reporting cutoff.
Again, that difference should not be described as $24 million of unallocated money. The city reports the entire $37 million as programmed.
But it illustrates the scale of spending and project completion that remained in the pipeline entering the second half of 2026.
Other development-related accounts showed similar differences.
A $12.5 million Development Fund and Preservation of Historic Neighborhoods program administered through the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority had approximately $7.22 million in expenditures recorded by June 30.
Another $4.5 million program involving the Land Reutilization Authority had approximately $613,000 recorded as spent.
A $1.375 million SLDC Contractor Loan Fund showed no recorded expenditures in the June 30 database, while a $2 million SLDC administrative allocation connected to development and historic-neighborhood programs likewise showed no expenditures at that cutoff.
Those figures warrant scrutiny as the deadline approaches, but they cannot establish the current balance without more recent expenditure records.
ARPA money is also tied to physical projects
Some of the remaining spending isn’t simply a matter of issuing grants.
Federal relief money has financed physical redevelopment, demolition, and stabilization work on deteriorated properties across St. Louis.
SLDC identifies ARPA funding as a source for work on several priority properties, including the Chuck Berry House, Club Imperial, Marshall School and Cleveland High School.
At Club Imperial, SLDC’s project information called for deconstruction and demolition, with full demolition scheduled for completion in September.
Marshall School is being stabilized for potential future redevelopment, while Cleveland High School is also targeted for stabilization and eventual redevelopment.
These projects help explain why programmed and expended figures can differ significantly.
A contract can satisfy the city’s definition of programmed funding before construction is completed and invoices are paid. As contractors perform work and reimbursement requests move through the system, expenditures can rise rapidly.
That is one reason the June 30 figures cannot be treated as today’s balances.
SLDC says ARPA programs are winding down
Signs suggest the agency has entered the closing phase of the federal program.
SLDC recently said its ARPA-funded programs were winding down and publicly recognized employees who were hired to help administer the one-time federal investments.
The agency has also highlighted the effect of ARPA funding on the Land Reutilization Authority, saying the money helped demolish more than 500 deteriorated homes, maintain and clean more than 2,100 vacant lots and support other land-reuse efforts.
Those accomplishments represent the other side of the spending story.
The federal money has already financed housing programs, demolition, property stabilization, small-business assistance, neighborhood programs and other investments. The question facing SLDC and the city during the remaining months is how much of the committed pipeline can be converted into eligible completed expenditures before federal authority to spend the money expires.
Westbrooks inherited the deadline
Timing also matters when evaluating Westbrooks’ role.
Most of these programs were established years before he became SLDC president.
Westbrooks took office March 30, meaning he inherited both the portfolio and its approaching federal deadline. Spencer specifically identified deploying remaining ARPA funds as an immediate priority when he assumed the job.
The broader economic-development environment is also changing.
ARPA represented a one-time infusion of federal money following the COVID-19 pandemic. Once it expires, SLDC will have to rely on other public financing mechanisms and private investment to support projects that might previously have benefited from federal recovery dollars.
That issue is particularly relevant in North St. Louis.
A development map unveiled in September identified approximately 17 projects under construction and 16 in design, together valued at an estimated $337 million. It also identified about 19 projects valued at roughly $252 million that had funding gaps.
Westbrooks said SLDC had previously used ARPA funding through the North City Grant Program to help bridge some funding gaps, while acknowledging that the one-time federal resource was approaching expiration.
The final months will determine the outcome
The central question now is not whether St. Louis allocated its federal recovery money.
According to the city’s database, the full approximately $498 million had been programmed by June 30.
The question is how much of the remaining programmed funding has since become eligible expenditures — and how much remains to be processed before Dec. 31.
The most recent public accounting cannot answer that question in real time.
That makes the date attached to every number essential.
As of June 30, the citywide ARPA portfolio showed approximately $102.2 million between programmed funding and recorded expenditures. Ordinance 71592 alone showed a roughly $37.26 million difference. Several SLDC-related projects showed millions more programmed than recorded as spent.
But those are historical snapshots, not current balances.
More recent invoices, reimbursements, grants and construction payments could substantially reduce the outstanding amounts.
What is certain is the deadline.
Treasury says qualifying SLFRF money generally must be expended by Dec. 31, 2026.
For Westbrooks, who has now been in charge of St. Louis’ economic development agency for roughly six months, the final quarter of 2026 will therefore involve more than launching new development initiatives.
It will also require closing out one of the largest one-time federal investment programs in the city’s recent history — turning money committed on paper into eligible expenditures and completed projects before the federal clock runs out.
Editor’s note: City ARPA expenditure figures cited in this report reflect the City of St. Louis’ latest publicly available project-and-expenditure data, which covers activity through June 30, 2026 and was updated Aug. 13. Figures described as differences between programmed funds and expenditures should not be interpreted as current unallocated balances or as amounts certain to be returned to the federal government. Expenditures may have occurred after the reporting cutoff.
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