Stephan Salisbury has more detail on and reaction to the state's new arts tax.
It's disturbing that public officials are unwilling or unable to give tax payers the full story:
A spokesman for Gov. Rendell, Gary Tuma, said he could not confirm specific elements in the budget package. But "we cannot do a budget without pain," he said, "and there is widespread pain in this budget."
Comment removed.
Taxing non-profit theatre companies while not taxing tickets for vastly profitable ticket sales to sports teams and movies!!!??? What parallel universe am I living in to believe that this is utterly non-sensical?— steveh- As someone who has voted for "Avenue of the Arts" proponent Ed Rendell at least four times, I have to say that this is at best a total slap in the face to the arts across the state. Unless there is some sort of provision in the budget which protects smaller 501(c)3 organizations (those with an annual budget under, say, $250,000 are exempt from the tax surcharge), this does nothing but further diminish administrative support of the arts in what was once a state which led the way in arts support. Aside from being a laudable arts supporter, however, Ed Rendell is also in bed with Philadelphia sports, and despite the fact that the Eagles still owe the city upwards of $8MM, this and other huge revenue-producing entities in the city can still print money without contributing to the cultural health of the region which dumps so many dollars into their coffers. Truly a black eye for the Commonwealth, and for Mr. Rendell personally. I truly hope he's got some plan here besides a mystical "Arts Fund" which will surely go broke within a year as smaller organizations continue to fold.— SupportTheArtsInPhilly
- Isn't there already an "amusement tax" on sports tickets?— phillyccgwm
Is there a way to tax people to pay for the services they use everyday that does not include the 28% of Philadelphia's economy that is in the non-profit sector? They use the roads, the fire department the police, etc. why shouldn't there be a value added tax on tickets to their events? This is a consumption tax based on the arts consuming public, not the revenue of the organization. It means a higher price, but not enough of an increase to prohibit ticket purchases.
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