Arnold officials plan to complete a long-awaited stormwater project, modernize the animal care facilities at Animal Control and change some staff positions to save money and reshape how the city communicates with residents this fiscal year.
City Council members voted 7-0 on Aug. 27 to approve the 2026-2027 budget days before the start of the fiscal year, which began Tuesday, Sept. 1, and runs through Aug. 31, 2027. Ward 1 Councilman EJ Fleischmann was not at the meeting.
Arnold officials anticipate collecting $784,500 more than the city spends this fiscal year. The city’s revenue is projected to be $35,005,020, and its expenses are expected to be $34,220,520.
The city also is expected to end the fiscal year with $4,139,632 in reserve funds in its operating budget, which was projected to start the fiscal year with $3,355,132.
Mayor Bill Moritz said he is glad the major overhaul to the stormwater system in the Little Muddy Creek area is expected to be started this fiscal year, and the city is able to make other improvements.
However, he also said he wishes the city could afford to pay for more projects, such as removing and replacing a long-dormant slide at the Arnold Recreation Center’s outdoor pool. The projected cost to replace the slide is $650,000.
Replacing the slide was one of the three most expensive projects requested by city department leaders that were not included in this year’s budget. The city also will not pay for a $950,000 park roads project or a $700,000 project to install a splash pad in Arnold.
“The wish list is a good idea,” Moritz said. “At the same time, when you look at the things on the wish list, those are things that are above and beyond what is already budgeted. One of them is that slide. That thing is not usable in its present state. We don’t have the money to take it down and get rid of it, or to modify it to where it doesn’t have such a steep entry. You have to make the tradeoff. If we do this, what do we have to not do.
“We need to proceed with more development in our area, so we can get more sales tax and proceed with these projects and not put them on a wish list. We need to think about the future and future growth of the city. We need to do development to do that.”
Stormwater
Arnold officials began working to improve the stormwater system in the Little Muddy Creek area in 2022.
Little Muddy Creek is north of Hwy. 141 and west of I-55.
The project is expected to cost about $2.3 million for improvements to be made along Walnut, Arlene, Roy, Ray, Polly, Jacqueline, Redwood and Sonny drives, as well as to a ditch between the Fox Chase Apartments and Redwood Drive.
“Muddy Creek is such a big project,” Moritz said. “We want to get that done.”
In order to cover the cost for the Little Muddy Creek and other stormwater projects, Arnold is transferring $2,865,971 into its stormwater budget from its operating budget.
Arnold is projected to collect $21,120,647 in revenue while spending a projected $16,552,920 in its operating budget.
The city is anticipating collecting $681,995 in revenue in its stormwater budget, while spending $3,547,786.
During a special meeting Aug. 24 to review the budget, Finance Director Bill Lehmann told City Council members the city has many stormwater projects that will need to be completed in the near future. He also said Arnold will need to seek grants and other revenue sources to help pay for the improvements.
“We definitely have an aging infrastructure,” Lehmann told the council. “We charge $36 a year for stormwater for residents. I live in St. Louis County, and I pay about $56 per month.”
The stormwater project is not the only infrastructure item the city plans to pay for this fiscal year.
Arnold anticipates spending $1,750,000 on annual concrete and asphalt work, and it will pay about $1.5 million for the first phase of work on Pomme Road to be completed.
The first phase will reconstruct just more than a half-mile of the road and add sidewalks between Lone Dell Road and Rockview Lane.
Arnold received a $1,650,000 Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) from the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, the governing body of the Missouri Department of Transportation, to help pay for the project. The total estimated cost of the project is $3,150,000.
Arnold also will spend about $300,000 for engineering services and another $200,000 on initial funding for the second phase of improvements on Pomme Road.
The second phase of the project will cover about 2,150 feet of Pomme Road between Rockview Lane and Valmont Drive. Arnold plans to reconstruct the road and install new curbs, gutters, sidewalks, curb ramp connections, stormwater facilities and retaining walls, city documents said.
Arnold received a $1,575,000 STBG for the second phase of the Pomme Road improvements, which is estimated to cost $2.2 million.
Arnold will pay the cost not covered by the grants with money it receives from its share of the 1/2-cent countywide sales tax Jefferson County collects for road and bridge projects.
Animal control
Arnold is anticipating paying about $170,000 to update the Animal Contral Department’s dog kennels and build a room for cats.
The city projects the kennel improvements to cost about $130,000, and the cat room will cost about $40,000.
City Administrator Anthony Traxler told council members on Aug. 27 the improvements are long overdue.
“This is an overall comprehensive improvement,” he said. “From an insurance standpoint, it probably should have been done a long time ago.”
Sarah Turner, community development director, told the council on Aug. 27 the upgraded kennels will create more privacy between dogs and create a safer environment for the employees and animals.
Turner also said the new kennels will have what are called guillotine doors, which is a door that may be slid between kennels to divide the areas a dog may be inside.
“If you have an aggressive animal, you slide the door down and then you can clean one side without dealing with a dog who is dangerous,” she said.
Traxler said noise in the kennel area is nearly unbearable for the cats, who are kept in the same area as the dogs.
“The cats are pretty much terrified the entire time,” Traxler said.
Staffing
Arnold will hire a company to handle its information technology services. The city anticipates paying $140,000 for the service.
Traxler said the decision to change to an outside company instead of hiring an internal employee was made after Deion Christopher, the city’s information technology manager, retired earlier this year.
Traxler said there was not another person on staff to take over Christopher’s duties, and the city brought in an IT firm for a short-term basis and used the opportunity to restructure the department.
“As part of this process, we reduced our reliance on outside vendors, which lowered costs and improved the efficiency of our IT operations,” Traxler said. “Our consultant is also currently evaluating several existing IT infrastructure contracts to identify additional opportunities for cost savings and improvements to our overall IT operations.
“I anticipate we will save between $120,000 and $180,000 annually when everything is implemented.”
Arnold also is planning to hire a public information officer. The city anticipates spending about $105,000 to cover the position’s salary and benefits.
Traxler said Arnold officials want to hire a PIO to be more responsive to residents, communicate what is occurring in the city more efficiently and to provide consistent messages regarding information.
“The (PIO) would update the website, which hasn’t been updated in about 15 years,” he said. “(The PIO) would create a newsletter, which will either be quarterly or bi-annual, and create an internal employee newsletter for improved employee communications and relations.
“Another large portion of the job will be working with the parks department on special events.”