The Detroit Institute of Art property tax funding campaign

I've written about the property tax funding initiative on the ballot for the Detroit Institute of Arts in "Art is for everyone property tax funding campaign: Detroit Institute of Art."

The proposal is to cover Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties--the museum is in Detroit, which is in Wayne County. I did suggest that the metropolitan area should create the equivalent of the Regional Asset Distrit in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and perhaps this is the first step, and a broader program could develop incrementally.

Anyway, the Detroit Free Press has a story, "The push for a millage: Detroit Institute of Arts' past puts its future in jeopardy," plus a superb graphic that communicates so much information about the organization's budget over time, declining public support, and comparisons to peer institutions.

It's the kind of coverage that most newspapers ought to be providing on issues with such local import but rarely do.

Also see "Poll: Detroit Voters Likely To Approve Tax To Fund Art Museum" from the Detroit Free Press.  Of course, until the election is held, we won't know for sure.