Bracebridge council has approved writing off the Town’s remaining $862,930 loan balance owed by Theatre Muskoka, the group that operates the 298-seat Rene M. Caisse Memorial Theatre.
The decision was made at council’s March 3 meeting and will apply an existing valuation allowance of $646,000, with the remaining $216,930 recorded as a one-time, non-cash expense in 2026.
Mayor Rick Maloney said the outstanding debt had been hindering the theatre’s ability to secure grant funding and other revenue sources.
“This is a good news story in many respects,” he said. “We are recognizing as a council the value that the theatre provides to the community.”
Coun. Don Smith said he was pleased to see the town moving forward with the decision. He acknowledged that some residents have questioned the amount being written off, but noted the change is largely an accounting adjustment.
“This does not hit the tax levy,” Smith said.
Town treasurer Paul Judson explained the loan was originally issued as an interest-free agreement with no fixed repayment terms. He said no repayments have been made since 2019, and previous payments accounted for less than one per cent of the original principal.
Judson said staff believe the loan is not realistically collectible and that continuing to carry the debt has been an obstacle to the theatre’s long-term success.
He added that the Town has been making financial provisions for the potential write-off for nearly a decade, meaning the decision reflects the reality that the loan will not be repaid. While there will be an impact on municipal reserves, Judson said those reserves had already accounted for the likelihood the debt was uncollectible.
The theatre was created through a partnership connected to the construction of Bracebridge and Muskoka Lakes Secondary School and the neighbouring Bracebridge Sportsplex in the early 2000s. In 2005, council approved a capital loan of about $2.3 million to support the development of a community theatre within the school facility.
Although an ambitious fundraising campaign secured significant community donations and grants, the organization struggled to meet repayment timelines. Council extended the loan deadline in 2008 and later replaced the agreement in 2011 with a letter of understanding requiring ticket surcharges to be directed toward debt repayment.
That arrangement remained in place until 2019, when the theatre was allowed to retain surcharge revenues to address aging technical equipment. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020, the Town suspended the remittance requirement entirely, a measure that remains in effect.
The report also recommends a three-year memorandum of understanding that would see the Town provide $39,000 annually to support theatre operations from 2026 through 2028. The funding would come from an existing budget allowance previously used to account for the loan’s declining value and would not impact the municipal tax levy.
Staff noted that similar municipally supported venues in nearby communities such as Gravenhurst and Orillia receive direct tax funding and in-kind support, while the Bracebridge theatre operates within a school board facility and has historically received limited municipal operating assistance.
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