According to a city staff report, the theatre company in co-operation with Streetcar, their sponsor, purchased the two units in 2016 under the assumption that as a small theatre they would be exempt from paying property taxes.
However, the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) ruled that the exemption only applied while the theatre was open, after January 2017. During the construction period in 2016, the exemption didn’t apply. In total, the theatre company owes $71,143.62, and an additional $56,999.45 for a restaurant portion of the property which is not exempt. The committee’s recommendation to pay the theatre’s portion of the property tax was conditional on the theatre paying the commercial portion of the property taxes — and paying those nonexempt taxes going forward. Committee chair Paul Ainslie moved the motion to offer the grant on behalf of local councillor Paula Fletcher. Ainslie said the grant was “a small amount of money in the scheme of things,” and it made sense for the city to help small theatres build their foundations. “Well, I think that throughout this process they learned their lesson,” said Ainslie. “From the experience I’ve had with a lot of groups and theatre groups is they don’t have the best financial acumen. The priority is we’re going to put this production on, we’re going to support community theatre and arts and culture in the city — and sometimes finances isn’t a high priority.” Toronto.com unsuccessfully attempted to contact Crow Theatre’s executive director Sherrie Johnson several times leading up to and following the Sept. 4 committee meeting where councillors recommended the one-time grant.A special and final update of the 2022-2026 City Council term.
This week at Council: maximum heat bylaw to protect tenants from extreme heat, new funding deal to build more housing and provincial upload of the Gardiner & DVP.
This week at Council: my Ashbridges Sewage Plant odours motion, a spectacular plan for Ookwemin Minising & Mayor Chow's push to boost support for vulnerable youth & low-income tenants. Read more.
