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Roanoke Rapids Theatre bailout attached to taxpayer refund bill

As the legislature churns toward a break, and the two chambers spar over priorities, a mashup bill emerges.

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Roanoke Rapids Theatre
By
Travis Fain
, WRAL statehouse reporter
RALEIGH, N.C. — A taxpayer refund pitched months ago, only to fade into obscurity as the legislative session dragged on, was revived Thursday and attached to a $7.5 million bailout for the city of Roanoke Rapids and its troubled Roanoke Rapids Theatre.

The mashup popped up in a House Finance committee, only to be voted down at midday. House Republicans tried again during the afternoon, and the measure cleared committee with leadership support.

The bill didn't come to the House floor Thursday as legislators worked to wrap up much of their business before a session break. It could move forward when lawmakers return to session later this year, or next year, though Gov. Roy Cooper would also have a say as part of a wider budget fight with legislative Republicans.

Checks wouldn't go out under this version of the bill until 2020.

House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger announced the refund plan in a joint press conference in August, saying checks would start going out this year. Much of a $900 million state budget surplus, they said, should be returned to taxpayers, who'd get up to $250 for a married couple filing jointly or $125 for individual filers.

The measure cleared the Senate as part of a different bill, then sat in the House.

Senate Bill 105 now marries the refund with a $7.5 million state grant to Roanoke Rapids to help it retire debt on the troubled theater. The city borrowed some $21.5 million to build the theater, and it opened in 2007 as the Randy Parton Theatre.

Dolly Parton's brother, Randy, initially managed the operation and performed there, but the arrangement soured and the city eventually took over. The venue then went through a series of managers and failed revivals.

Roanoke Rapids still owes $11 million on the building, which was sold at auction last year.

"The project essentially failed, leaving the city with debt to retire and little revenue to do so," a staff summary of the bailout bill states.

Rep. Julia Howard, R-Davie, the House's senior finance chair, got the grant added to the refund bill. The goal is to pressure the Senate, which doesn't favor the bailout, to go for it by attaching the measure to one of the chamber's priorities.

Howard said she doesn't have a connection to Roanoke Rapids or the theater, but she wants to help the city.

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