PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council is being asked to extend tax breaks for the Beacon Cinema.

 

The cinema was granted a tax increment financing agreement was part of the financing package put together for project, built in 2008-09. That agreement spanned for nine years, concluding this June.

 

For the first seven of those, the theater had 100 percent of the tax on increases in value each year abated — so owner Richard Stanley paid both personal property and real estate taxes on the set value of  $609,100. For the final two years, the company paid 25 percent of the value increases and this year expected to pay 50 percent. So far, the city has seen some $208,017 in property tax.

 

The cinema was heralded as a centerpiece in the city's downtown revitalization plans. The agreement helped entice Stanley to take what was a rundown building and turn it into a viable business. The theater opened to much fanfare in 2009, six months ahead of the scheduled construction period.

 

In return, the Beacon has far exceeded its part of the bargain. The theater was asked to invest at least $11.9 million and create 14 full-time and 22 part-time jobs within five years. In 2015, the company reported investing more than $20.2 million and created a total of 39 jobs, between the theater and the Marketplace Cafe.

 

According to Director of Community Development Janis Akerstrom, the TIF was only allowed to extend out to nine years at the time. The original agreement included an option to extend it.

 

"This request provides an opportunity for the city to extend the short TIF exemption to a more standard timeline," Akerstrom wrote to the City Council.

 

The new agreement would extend the tax breaks until 2022, and ease into paying 100 percent of the value increases. In 2017, the Beacon would again pay 50 percent of the increase and each year pay 10 percent more. From July 1 until June 30, 2022, the last year of the amended agreement, the company would pay 90 percent of the value increases. In 2023, the Beacon would be fully on the tax rolls.

 

The City Council sent the request to the Finance Subcommittee, which will make a recommendation to the full committee. On Tuesday, a number of members of Downtown Pittsfield Inc. advocated for the agreement.

 

"I know that the Beacon Cinema, in my opinion, the flagship of arts and entertainment not just in Pittsfield but in Berkshire County," Ty Allan Jackson said, adding that theaters like it will help retain the millennials the city needs in its demographics. 

 

Downtown Pittsfield Inc. Executive Director Kristine Hurley read a letter from the owners of the neighboring Hot Harry's saying the theater attracts families downtown and into the restaurant. President Jesse Cook-Dubin read a letter from the owners of the Marketplace Cafe, which called the abatement "modest" and the type of agreement that makes those projects possible.

 

"It's common sense that if the Beacon fails, Pittsfield will soon follow," DPI member Warren Dews said, adding that businesses need community support to survive.