The head of St. Louis’ water division says his proposed budget for fiscal 2027 is “unsustainable.”
“This year, we were not able to approve a lot of the necessary things that we need to approve to operate the division,” Director of Public Utilities Niraj Patel told the Budget and Public Employees Committee of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen on Monday.
The department expects to bring in about $3 million less than is needed to cover critical expenses such as treatment chemicals and electricity to power its water treatment and pumping facilities. And seven years of deficit spending wiped out its reserves…