City Budget - RDC wants 25% Raise & Contract Extension

While most citizens are focused on ways to cut the City budget and concerns about pensions and health care benefits, the Riverfront Development Corporation (RDC) is seeking a 25% funding increase & a 5-year management contract extension. The increased funding is in the Wharton Administration proposed budget and will go to the City Council Budget Committee this Tuesday (4/29/14).

At budget time last spring, the RDC reported a $361,000 operating deficit to the City Council but said they hoped when Beale Street Landing opened they would break even.

By early March this year, that deficit had grown, and the City Council bailed out the RDC with an extra $600,000 to cover "some of the organization’s financial shortfalls." According to the Commercial Appeal, that boosts this past year's City payment to the RDC to manage the riverfront to $2.9 million.

News Channel 3/WREG took a look the Council's seeming inability to say "no". Click to watch "Informed Sources: Budget Blues."

Currently, the RDC is managing the riverfront on behalf of the city on a contract that runs through June 30, George Little, the city’s chief administrative officer, told the Commercial Appeal. “They want a five-year contract and we’ll go into negotiations with them on that,” Little said. Lendermon said the contract actually expires April 30 and that they’re amending it to get to the June 30 date.

If you have comments, you may send them to

Budge Committee Chairman, Councilman Lee Harris,  Lee.Harris@memphistn.gov

Budget Committee Vice-Chairman, Councilman Harold Collins,  Harold.Collins@memphistn.gov

and other members of the Budget Committee:

Bill.Boyd@memphistn.gov 
Joe.Brown@memphistn.gov
Kemp.Conrad@memphistn.gov
Shea.Flinn@memphistn.gov 
Edmund.Fordjr@memphistn.gov 
Janis.Fullilove@memphistn.gov
Wanda.Halbert@memphistn.gov 
Reid.Hedgepeth@memphistn.gov 
Myron.Lowery@memphistn.gov 
Bill.Morrison@memphistn.gov 
Jim.Strickland@memphistn.gov