St. Charles County executive at odds with council members on China trade expenditure
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
December 10, 2009
by Mark Schlinkmann
St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann's request to increase the county government's financial stake in a regional effort to drum up more trade with China has run into trouble on the County Council.
At least three council members say the request for the Midwest China Hub Commission is out of kilter with the otherwise tight county budget submitted by Ehlmann amid lagging county tax revenues.
Ehlmann wants to spend $80,000 on the China trade push, an increase from the $37,500 kicked in by the county government this year to the effort.
The three council members - Cheryl Hibbeler, D-O'Fallon; Council Chairman Joe Brazil, R-Defiance, and Nancy Matheny, R-Weldon Spring - want to pare back next year's allocation to $40,000.
Hibbeler questions whether the amount requested by Ehlmann is worth the potential benefit for the county even if China selects Lambert Airport for a Midwest cargo hub.
Brazil said the amount isn't justified when the county can't afford across-the-board pay increases next year for its employees. "We're not living up to our fundamental obligation to give employees the raises they deserve," he said.
He also complained that a business park east of Lambert owned by Paul McKee's McEagle Enterprises would be a likely hub of China trade activity. He contended that McKee projects have gotten too much government help over the years.
Matheny said the China trade push "sounds like a good idea but things are so tight and the budget is stretched so thin."
Ehlmann, a Republican who serves on the China trade panel with leaders of St. Louis and St. Louis County among others, said many businesses in St. Charles County may benefit if Lambert is selected for the cargo hub.
"To invest $80,000 in possibly getting some good jobs in manufacturing and transportation, I think, is worth the risk," he said. He added that the McEagle development wouldn't be the only one that could benefit.
Moreover, he said it's important for St. Charles County officials to be involved in the regional effort. "For years, for decades, decisions have been made about Lambert Airport and we've never had a seat at the table," he said. "This is going to greatly affect the future of the airport and the future of the entire region."
Ehlmann, by the way, took a flight to Washington today to press the hub issue. He'll join other regional leaders, Gov. Jay Nixon and members of Missouri's Congressional delegation at a dinner at the Chinese embassy with Zhou Wenzhong, the Chinese ambassador to the United States.
St. Charles County, St. Louis County and St. Louis are supposed to chip in $100,000 apiece this year and next year to the effort.
This year, Ehlmann's office said, the county's $100,000 total included the $37,500 from the county government, $50,000 from the county Industrial Development Authority and $12,500 from a private county booster group called Partners for Progress. The development authority's money comes from its fees on bond sales.
Next year, Ehlmann had planned to get $20,000 from outside sources to supplement the $80,000 he sought in county funds.
Brazil, Hibbeler and Matheny plan to push to trim Ehlmann's request to $40,000 when the council votes on the budget at its next meeting Dec. 22.
Other cuts also are expected to be proposed, Brazil said, in the wake of updated 2009 sales tax revenue data through October that was worse than the figures available when the proposed budget was put together.
