Dixon considers assisting art gallery: Owner of The Next Picture Show building asks for TIF funds
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| In this photo made by screen capture from www.thenextpictureshow.com, a part of the gallery can be seen. Ralph Edgar, owner of the building that houses The Next Picture Show, at 113 W. First St., wants to be reimbursed for about $45,000 worth of renovations he has put into the building. He said he then would turn those funds over to the nonprofit gallery to help cover its operational costs. |
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DIXON – City commissioners and attorneys agree that a nonprofit art gallery in downtown Dixon could qualify for city dollars, but they don’t agree on whether it should get that money.
Ralph Edgar, owner of the building that houses The Next Picture Show, at 113 W. First St., asked the City Council last week for funds from the city’s tax increment finance funds.
Edgar wants to be reimbursed for about $45,000 worth of renovations he has put into the building. He said he then would turn those funds over to the nonprofit gallery to help cover its operational costs.
A tax increment finance district, or TIF, is an economic development tool cities can use to raise money for infrastructure and redevelopment projects designed to attract new business.
The money could be used in this case as part of a redevelopment agreement between the city and the gallery, Mayor Jim Burke said.
Burke supports giving The Next Picture Show $15,000 a year for the next 3 years, as requested, because he thinks the gallery is a vital driver of economic development.
Finance Commissioner Roy Bridgeman and Commissioner Ira “Clark” Kelly oppose the idea, though, on the grounds that the city – which passed a deficit budget this year – doesn’t have a dime to spare.
The TIF funds are separate from the city’s budget, Bridgeman said – and the TIF account has a positive balance – but that money, and then some, already is owed to Dixon: The city has lent the TIF fund about $2 million.
“They’re going to have to start paying the city back; we’re going to have to use that money to get through this financial crunch,” Bridgeman said. “If we didn’t need [the money] at this time, I wouldn’t have any problem, but there comes a time when you just have to say no.”
The item will again come up for discussion at the council’s next meeting on Dec. 7. The mayor hopes to vote on it at the following meeting.
The Next Picture Show stepped up its fundraising efforts this year after Executive Director Bonnie Kime said the nonprofit was in danger of closing.
