By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
The movie theater many people thought would never happen in Decatur is rolling along toward its seventh anniversary.
ABCinema, which opened downtown in May of 2017, got a tip of the caps from city officials as council approved its latest CF-1 review at council’s latest meeting.
The CF-1 is a form businesses which receive a tax abatement must fill out each year to demonstrate how they has complied with what they vowed to do in order to receive the abatement.
ABCinema co-owner Barb Affolder said at the council meeting that the latest compliance review has to do with the addition to the theater three years when it expanded into the building to the west.
The original two abatements – for real property and for equipment – have expired.
The cinema received a second set of abatements when it expanded.
The business has once again lived up to its commitments, annual payroll having risen from $43,000 to its current $53,530. Its employee numbers have also increased, to 21 part-time (including owners Barb and Corey) employees plus “three college kids who work on their breaks,” Barb said.
She noted that one employee has been with them for six years.
“The theater has been a definite asset to Decatur,” Councilman Scott Murray said.
“I want to personally thank Corey and Barb for taking this on several years ago,” Mayor Dan Rickord added.