Winni Playhouse wants exemption from property taxes for former Annalee Dolls complex

MEREDITH — In response to a request from the Winnipesaukee Playhouse for a charity-based exemption from property taxes, the Board of Selectmen raised the prospect of negotiating a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) at a workshop session on Monday.

In 2007, the playhouse, through Hidden Green Properties, LLC, purchased the Annalee Doll complex, consisting of three tax parcels, one of 10.72 acres that housed the gift shop assessed at $483,500 and one of 5.15 acres that housed the offices assessed at $707,400, along with 1.11 acres of vacant land assessed at $9,100. With a total assessed value of $1.2-million, the 2011 tax bill for the property was $15,180.

In March, the property was transferred from Hidden Green Properties, LLC to the Winnipesaukee Playhouse, which applied for the exemption.

State law grants exemptions to charitable organizations that "perform some service of public good or welfare advancing the spiritual, physical, intellectual, social or economic well-being of the general public."

Assessor Jim Commerford told the selectmen that the playhouse is registered as a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, established to "develop and stage professional and community-based theatrical and artistic productions and to provide educational opportunities in theatre and the performing arts for the community." He said that he visited the property and found that the buildings are used for the purposes for which the playhouse was established. Furthermore, Commerford learned that most theatre companies enjoy a tax exemption, though some have negotiated PILOT agreements.

Town counsel Laura Spector-Morgan advised that while most of the property qualifies for an exemption, the vacant land does not since it is not used for charitable, or any other, purposes. Consequently, Commerford recommended that the playhouse be granted an exemption of $15,064.89.

Without challenging Commerford's recommendation, Selectman Peter Brothers remarked that "good neighbors pay taxes" and asked about negotiating a PILOT agreement.

Commerford reminded the board that PILOT agreements are voluntary.

Bryan Halperin, executive director of the playhouse, explained that while construction of the theater on the campus was underway, the playhouse was still staging its performances at the Alpen Rose Plaza at Weirs Beach in Laconia. He said that the expenses of maintaining two sites, one in Meredith and the other in Laconia, were high, while the limited capacity of the venue at The Weirs crimped revenues.

Expressing his willingness to consider a PILOT agreement, Halperin told the board that the playhouse would not have the financial resources to make a payment for three years.

Commerford said that like other organizations that enjoy exemptions the playhouse must apply for its exemption each year, accompanying its application with financial statements.

Halperin said that an economic impact study of the playhouse projected that once the theatre on the Meredith campus opens, it will generate close to $200,000 in annual spending by visitors to town by its third year of operation. "There is potential for everyone to be very happy if we're successful down the road," he said.