Ticket- tax proposal needs adjustment

The notion of a ticket tax to benefit arts in Columbus has been pending since late January, but significant concerns remain to be addressed before Columbus City Council gives the concept thumbs up or thumbs down.

In fact, the council should not limit itself to an up or down vote on the current proposal; some modification is the better course.

Without initially specifying a rate, the Greater Columbus Arts Council proposed the idea of a citywide ticket tax to support arts organizations and help maintain Nationwide Arena, and we expressed preliminary support. We continue to believe there is a need for more local support for the arts and for stable funding of the arena, which has been owned and operated since 2011 by the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority, a city-county government entity.

We suggested then that city council needed to answer two primary questions: Does a financially healthier arts-and-cultural scene justify asking people to pay more for tickets? And does Nationwide Arena bring enough benefit to the community to deserve a cut?

Taking the arena question first —clearly an impediment to a municipal ticket tax for some opponents

— the 7 percent tax rate proposal ultimately put forth by GCAC in September argues favorably for sharing proceeds of the fee with Nationwide.

While the tortured history of Nationwide Arena's funding and ownership understandably raises hackles, the fact remains that the ticket-tax idea isn't a giveaway to the arena. Under the current proposal, sales of tickets to arena events would account for about 40 percent of the total tax take of around $14 million a year. With just 30 percent of the ticket tax revenue earmarked for arena maintenance, arena sales would actually be a net contributor to funding for the arts.