Group files petition for audit of St. Louis finances

ST. LOUIS - A group of St. Louis residents has filed a petition with the Missouri State Auditor's Office to request a review of the city's finances.

A spokesperson from the Missouri Auditor's Office tells FOX 2 that it received a petition with signatures from a group called Audit STL 2024. The state auditor's website classifies this effort as a petition audit on its website.

FOX 2's news partners at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch report that the group is concerned about spending at City Hall, specifically with how pandemic relief funds have been allocated over the last few years.

The Missouri Auditor's Office tells FOX 2 that individuals who originally signed the petition have until Nov. 22 to decide if they would like to withdraw their signature. After that, the Missouri Auditor's Office plans to turn over the petition to the St. Louis City Election Board to verify whether there are enough signatures to move forward with an audit.

In addition to this effort for a petition audit, the Missouri Auditor's Office is also working to wrap up an independent audit of St. Louis finances that began in 2018 at the request of the Board of Aldermen.

The spokesperson says the audit that began in 2018 isn't completed yet due to delays with completing the final report, specifically citing delays with information from the Circuit Attorney's Office. The auditor's office is hopeful to release the initial audit request by the end of this year.