http://us-cigs.com/news/04.08.06/Cleveland-mayor-backs-cigarettes-tax-for-arts.1652.html




Mayor Frank Jackson and members of City Council said Thursday they support a Cuyahoga County proposal to add a cigarette tax to boost funding for the arts.


Cash-strapped cities such as Cleveland have to consider creative ways to offer public funds to the arts, and this tax would help the city's creative vitality without adding to income or property tax burdens, Jackson said.

"It is the overall quality of life and the well-being of citizens we are talking about, and one aspect of that is what art and culture brings to the table," Jackson said.

The city's museums, theaters and orchestra are well known, but creativity in neighborhoods among small art groups needs greater support, even though the arts usually are not a priority when residents are worried about schools and crime, the mayor said.

Voters will be asked to approve a 30-cent increase in Cuyahoga County's cigarette tax to finance arts and culture. County commissioners voted 3-0 on July 5 to place the proposal before voters on the Nov. 7 ballot.

If approved, the tax would raise about $20 million annually and would be allocated by the county commissioners. All arts and cultural groups and projects in the county would be allowed to compete for funding.

The county tax would provide local artists with another resource besides the Ohio Arts Council, a state agency that funds and supports the arts with funds from the Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

On June 20, the Arts Council board approved the first round of grants for fiscal year 2007. The council awarded 429 grants totaling $7.8 million to support arts organizations and arts programs across Ohio. Organizations that receive OAC funds are required to match state tax dollars with additional public and private funds.

The ballot issue will have opposition. The Small Business Coalition, a nonprofit organization including small Cleveland-area stores where cigarettes are sold, is on record against the tax.

"We think this would be a negative economic impact for the community," said Gary Nolan, president of small business group.

Nolan, a smoker, said the organization does not agree that more public funding of the arts is needed.

"Why does art deserve my tax dollars? If it were such a great investment, the free market would invest in it," Nolan said. "We also don't think government needs to be involved in deciding which artist gets which amount of money, or who is truly is an artist."

In 2004, Cuyahoga County voters defeated a property tax proposal to finance arts and economic development projects.

If approved, the state and county taxes on cigarettes sold in the county would be about $1.60 a pack, a portion of which has been used to help finance a baseball stadium for the Cleveland Indians and a basketball arena for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

It has the support of the Cleveland area's Community Partnership for Arts and Culture.

State Sen. Erie Fingerhut, a Cleveland-area Democrat, is managing the campaign for the tax and said Cleveland needs a vibrant arts environment like the one in Toronto.

"The reason we're doing this is because of the economic needs of the city and county," Fingerhut said. A more vibrant arts community would attract business and people to the Cleveland area, he said.