Pro-ticket tax group emerges

A group of local artists, business executives and neighborhood leaders have banded together to support a ticket tax plan that the Greater Columbus Arts Council sent to the Columbus City Council.

The 11-person group, which calls itself Protect Art 4 Columbus, announced its formation Thursday. It includes retired Corna Kokosing Construction CEO Mark Corna, Southwest Area Commission Chairwoman Stefanie Coe and attorney Larry James, among others.

The group is supporting a 7 percent tax on tickets to arts, cultural and entertainment events in Columbus. The tax is expected to generate about $12 million a year, with $3.6 million of that earmarked for capital projects at Nationwide Arena, under the arts council’s proposal submitted in September. Officials have said arena events will generate about $4 million in tax revenue.

If approved as proposed, the rest of the money — about 70 percent — would go to the arts council to distribute to arts groups in Columbus.

The council is weighing the proposal but has not yet written legislation to impose a tax.

“We have a vested interest in the arts and the sustainability of the arts. This is an issue that has been percolating for as long as I can remember about a competitive budget for supporting the arts,” said James, who has sat on several arts boards.

Without additional funding, small arts groups could disappear, he said.

“I think GCAC is being smart in letting the general public be a part of this at a relatively low financial threshold,” said James Ragland, a community activist and former Columbus mayoral candidate who is part of the group.

That a support group has formed as the council considers the proposal ahead of its final meetings of the year in late November and early December could point to a looming showdown over a ballot initiative to fight the tax.

Several large organizations in Columbus already have opposed the proposal, led by Arnold Sports Festival founder Jim Lorimer, who has been the most vocal critic of the proposed tax.

The Columbus Blue Jackets, who play in Nationwide Arena, also have opposed the tax, with team President Mike Priest writing a letter to the council to encourage members to reject it. Officials with the production of the musical Hamilton, the All American Quarter Horse Congress and PromoWest Productions also are among those that have opposed the tax.

A citizens group calling itself Advocates for Responsible Taxation formed in August to oppose it. The group has pledged to bring a referendum against the tax if the council adopts one.

The group’s leader, Mike Gonidakis, said small arts groups that need more funding can ask the arts council for a bigger slice of the money it already receives from the city’s bed tax. He called the group forming to support the tax “a charade.”

“Let’s call this what it is. This is just GCAC in different clothing. At the end of the day, this doesn’t pass the smell test,” he said.