ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - For months, St. Louis Board of Aldermen have asked the voters to weigh in on what is the best use of the $250 million in settlement money earned from the Rams leaving St. Louis for Los Angeles.
Nearly 10,000 have responded to the survey that was up starting in August 2023, with hundreds, if not thousands of ideas being suggested by residents in the St. Louis-area.
Of those ideas, 20 ideas are on the table, ranging from traffic safety to subsidized child care to new school construction.
For city residents, Friday marks the final day to vote on how to spend the Rams Settlement money. The voting is blind, so no one knows which ideas are the most popular so far.
St. Louis Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier joined KMOX's Total Information A.M. Thursday to discuss the deadline.
The Rams relocation settlement rewarded the area with $790 million in December 2021. Around a third of the money alone went towards attorney fees. The remaining money has been split between St. Louis City, St. Louis County and the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Authority with the city getting $250 million.
Sonnier believes it is likely the $250 million, which is currently sitting in an interest-bearing account with the Missouri Securities Investment Program, will be spent on multiple projects.
"I think there's a great chance for us to display our ability to several things at once," said Sonnier. "I think it will be hard to pick just one idea and one main focus when there is a high level of strong needs across a variety of things."
After voting closes Friday, the Board of Alderman will take the most popular ideas and vet them, with that process will last through May, with a final decisions are likely to come in the fall.
"You will see us take the ideas that get the most consensus and map out what they look like. what will they cost? What will there annual stacking needs be?," said Sonnier. "How long might that it be sustainable? You will see (the Board of Aldermen) map out more detail and more date about what the narrow idea will look like."
To participate in the survey you can click here.