Council may claim Beale bucks

Program generated $183,555 in second half of 2016

The Memphis City Council may lay claim to the little surplus revenue generated by the controversial Beale Street Bucks program instituted last year after a series of stampedes raised questions about street security.

The program, funded by a $10 cover charge to enter the Beale Street Entertainment District after 10 p.m. on Saturdays, raised $183,555 between its implementation in June and the end of 2016, according to a handout to council members in committee Tuesday. After paying the charge at a security checkpoint, patrons receive a $7 voucher accepted by all retailers along the street.

The council is reviewingBeale Street Bucks in the middle of a broader discussion about whether to dissolve the Beale Street Tourism Development Authority and hire a street manager to replace the Downtown Memphis Commission. Council members, who are also searching for

money to make up a projected $52 million budget shortfall in 2021, didn’t act on the surplus revenue discussion Tuesday.

The Beale Street Merchants Association already spent the 2016 surplus, reinvesting much of the money back into the program or street security, according to the information sheet given to council members in committee Tuesday. But the association also donated $55,000 — 30 percent of the surplus — to community organizations, including a $25,000 donation to the Memphis Police Department pending council approval.

The association also gave $10,000 to Streets Ministries, $10,000 to Porter-Leath, $5,000 to the Handy Artist Relief Trust and $5,000 to the Operation Re-Start Program.

Former mayor A C Wharton signed a memorandum of understanding with the Beale Street Merchants Association in 2011 affirming the association’s control of the revenues from a previous version of the program, said Ken Taylor, the association’s executive director. But council attorney Allan Wade said Wharton never received approval from the council, which controls the allocation of city finances.

Wade said he planned to address legal questions about the Beale Street Bucks revenues in a closed attorney-client privilege meeting with council members Tuesday. Beale Street is already embroiled in three lawsuits, including one challenging the legality of charging a fee to enter a public street.

At the prompting of Wade, a council committee unanimously recommended the council’s acceptance of the $25,000 donation, which the council decided in February to send back to committee for further discussion.

Reach Ryan Poe at poe@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter at @ryanpoe.