A St. Louis judge is weighing whether the city of St. Louis must give its police department an additional $68 million before June 30.
Circuit Judge Joan Moriarty heard about four and a half hours of testimony Tuesday in a case that focuses on the meaning of general revenue. Under a law passed last year, the city is required to give a set percentage of general revenue to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. The required percentage for 2026, which is the focus of the case, is 22%.
"The Missouri Supreme Court has already decided this," said Chris Graville, an attorney for the state-appointed Board of Police Commissioners, which brought the legal case. "The city revenues break down binary — special revenue or general revenue. If it falls into that general revenue category, the percentage applies."
The state board points to a 1955 Missouri Supreme Court decision on funding for the Kansas City Police Department, which is also under state control. In that ruling, Graville said, the judges made it clear that general revenue is all the current income of the city, no matter its source, that is not designated for a specific purpose by law.
By that definition, the police board argues, $250 million from the Rams settlement, as well as the city's budget reserves of about $154 million, count toward the calculation of the 22%. That means the SLMPD should have gotten roughly $257 million in its 2026 budget. The city allocated about $189 million, a difference of $68 million.
It's that difference that the board wants to force the city to give to the SLMPD by the end of the fiscal year.
But attorneys for the city pointed out the law that governs minimum funding for the Kansas City Police Department uses a different term – the "general revenue fund" – than the law governing minimum funding for the SLMPD, which mentions "general revenue." And because "general revenue" is not defined in the SLMPD state control law, said Deputy City Counselor Andrew Wheaton, the judge should look at how the term is used in common understanding.
"Revenue is income. It is received during a specific period of time," he said. "If somebody were to make $100,000 as income in a year, they are taxed on $100,000 of their current income. If they are lucky enough to have saved over the years, they are not taxed on $150,000 because that is not current income."
The city called several accounting experts to bolster its definition of revenue. But the city also believes Moriarty does not even need to address the money issue — the police board filed its case using the wrong legal mechanism.
The police board is asking for a writ of mandamus. But Wheaton told Moriarty that they are actually asking her to make a legal interpretation about the definition of general revenue.
"The court cannot do that in a mandamus context," he said.
Graville argued his strategy was appropriate because of the mandated funding levels in the 2025 law. Writs of mandamus, he said, are an order from a judge to a government agency to perform its required duties.
Moriarty has asked each side to outline its legal arguments in writing by next Tuesday. A ruling in the case, which is likely to be appealed, must come soon because of the June 30 deadline.
The outcome of the case could also affect the debate on the spending plan for fiscal year 2027, which is underway at the Board of Aldermen.
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