Art is for everyone property tax funding campaign: Detroit Institute of Arts
A couple years ago I wrote a post (reprinted below) about desperate attempts by cultural institutions like the Detroit Zoo and the Detroit Institute of Arts to raise money through multi-county property taxes.
I haven't kept up with the issue. I am not sure it passed, because there is a vote in August on a property tax levy for the Detroit Institute of Arts. Also see "As millage vote looms, lawmaker and DIA spar over finances" from the Detroit Free Press.
I still think the best approach is regional, although it's hard to pull off.
Tom Murphy, first a legislator in Pennsylvania, and later long-time Mayor of Pittsburgh, created the infrastructure for the "Regional Asset District" in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, which supports the big cultural institutions in the city (museums, libraries, parks, etc.) but also cultural institutions throughout the county, through a county-wide levy.
That's what should be done in places like Detroit and Cleveland (in Cleveland they have a local levy on cigarette sales, "Cuyahoga County cigarette tax helping arts groups even as fewer people smoke" from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, which isn't a very equitable way to fund the arts, even though I hate smoking...).
This ought to become a much bigger issue going forward, as local governments are going to be continually hard pressed financially and will have to make hard choices on what to fund.
Parks-related tax and bonding initiatives tend to pass at high rates, greater than 70%, so if you build the basis of support properly, despite the difficulties of working across multiple taxing jurisdictions, I think it's possible to do this for the arts, or to combine such initiatives.
Friday, November 26, 2010
A way for a metropolitan area to support arts institutions based in the center city
From the article:
Democrat Rep. Vicki Barnett said she hopes to muster support to add the DSO to a bill that would allow voters in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties to vote for a tax of up to 0.2 mills to help pay for the Detroit Institute of Arts.
That bill is before the House for final approval next week. Another bill would allow the tri-county voters to double the 0.1-mill tax for the Detroit Zoo they approved in 2008.
Allegheny Regional Asset District (RAD) supports and finances regional assets in the areas of libraries, parks, cultural, sports and civic facilities and programs
Labels: arts-culture, civic assets, parks and open space, public finance and spending, taxation
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home