Two city officials are offering ideas on how to spend potential funds from privatizing St. Louis Lambert International Airport.
In a planning document released last week, Comptroller Darlene Green said any proceeds "should be reinvested in St. Louis' long-term health and stability." The Business Journal has reported that a long-term lease with a private operator could be worth $2.5 billion or more. But extinguishing Lambert's $600 million debt, capital improvements at the airport and reimbursements for city advisers could cut into the government's proceeds. A city work group studying privatization could soon issue a request for qualifications to bidders interested in running Lambert.
Green, who has opposed privatization in the past, said the funds could be used to build the city's lackluster reserves, improve funding levels for pensions, address "capital program shortfalls" for replacing "core city assets," and invest for "long-term economic and community development to strengthen St. Louis' tax base and neighborhood quality of life."
