Benicia Ballet Theatre has received notice from the California Franchise Tax Board that the dance organization’s nonprofit status has been restored, Renee Albrecht, the ballet studio’s publicity coordinator, said.

The studio learned in October 2013 that its 501(c)(3) status with the Internal Revenue Service had been reinstated, retroactive to when it first was determined to be noncompliant, Albrecht said.

Information about those two key reinstatements has been sent to Diane Smikahl, Benicia Public Library director, who is the city staff adviser to the Arts and Culture Commission, a panel that awards grants to local nonprofit cultural organizations.

Last year, the ballet learned it was out of compliance for nonprofit status, which jeopardized its two-year grant application with the commission.

Another artistic nonprofit, the Benicia Old Town Theatre Group, also fell out of compliance after a former treasurer was accused of embezzling its funds.

The City Council, recognizing the importance of the two organizations to the public, decided against denying the grant requests outright.

Instead, the Council agreed that each group was facing special circumstances, and that each could get a year’s worth of grant money during Fiscal Year 2013-14.

The grants were then to be given additional review in Fiscal Year 2014-15.

“We are tentatively planning on bringing this back to Council on June 17, and I imagine the Council will be very pleased to hear of BBT’s reinstatement,” Smikahl said Monday.

The ballet was supposed to submit proof of nonprofit status by Sept. 30, 2013, but the organization didn’t receive confirmation from the IRS in time, because of the temporary federal government shutdown.

When neither the ballet nor the theater group could provide the city with the proper paperwork, Smikahl recommended distributing the two groups’ combined $11,084 in grant money — $3,800 for the ballet, and the balance for BOTTG — to other grantees.

The Council instead allowed both organizations to get their first year of grants.

The 50-year-old Benicia Old Town Theatre Group had a similar experience, sending its forms and hiring a tax specialist. However, some of its documents were missing, along with the lost funds.

BOTTG’s paperwork was sent to the IRS just as the federal government shut down.

In the days leading to last year’s Council meeting at which the grants would be decided, the ballet’s artistic director, Margaret Kenrick, insisted that her organization’s nonprofit status was intact.

She said the ballet had acted promptly in April 2013, when it first learned its status had been dropped.

She said an accountant who specialized in handling not-for-profit groups had sent out the requisite paperwork, and that the IRS was paid an additional $400. The ballet had expected expedited service, about three weeks, to get its status restored, Kenrick said.

The three weeks became four months, she said.

An IRS representative called and told Kenrick the ballet finally had regained its status with the federal agency — but before the paperwork was sent, the federal government shut down and the agent with whom the ballet had worked was furloughed.

The Council decided both the ballet and the theater could get their first-year grants, but would need to provide documentation of nonprofit status before they would receive their second-year money.

Albrecht said Oct. 23, 2013, that the ballet’s nonprofit status had been restored.

“The reinstatement process had been under way all along, and it was just a matter of time before we received the official letter from the IRS, as we had already been told by phone call that it was on the way,” she said.

However, Smikahl said at the time that the organization needed to send the city documentation from the California Franchise Tax Board as well.

While the tax board regulations are similar to those of the IRS, the state application is a separate process, according to information provided by the state’s tax board.

“BBT would like to get this cleared up with the Benicia community and let everyone know, we are open for business and donations can now be accepted without issue,” Albrecht said.