The half day retreat will focus on the Roanoke Rapids Theatre issue, Mayor Emery Doughtie said today.
Two of the major discussion topics on the theater will be on ways to have more activity there and ways to produce more income, the mayor said.
“We still don’t have very many things nailed down, especially the larger shows, we don’t have them.”
Doughtie said council has directed the city manager to market the theater more diligently, “To use whatever means to market the theater and area around it.”
By that the mayor said he means to announce the city’s intentions it is willing to sell the building to national or international buyers. “I think it’s safe with council to say that we’re putting it out there for sale. We’re trying to let the world know we are trying to sell. That’s been our goal all along, to get a revenue stream to make it more valuable.”
The city has bills it didn’t have when Lafayette Gatling controlled the venue, Doughtie said.
With around a yearly $2 million theater debt, Doughtie said the city must look at other funding options. “We’re looking at any and all ways to increase the revenues. One possible way is to look at a 1 cent sales tax. A sales tax with cuts in the budget is one of the equitable ways to get more money.”
A penny on the current property tax rate generates about $100,000, Doughtie said.
To get enough to meet the theater debt, which is about a third of the property tax rate, would mean a substantial tax increase, he said. “Obviously, people can’t afford that. There are people using services who are not paying anything.”
A sales tax increase, Doughtie said, would spread the burden on those who live in the city and those who don’t.
The half day retreat will be held at 9 a.m. upstairs in the theater.
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