“I paid my art tax about a month ago. Since then, I`ve received two notices that my arts tax is due,” said Cynthia Fuhrman, executive director of Portland Center Stage, the city`s largest theater company. “It`s like c`mon, erase the list. You just spent a few dollars to send me two messages. I`m just worried about that kind of overhead and efficiency. The Oregon Symphony, which performs at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, did not benefit from the Portland art tax. “Indeed,” says the president of the orchestra, “it has made us less stable.” (Wesley Lapointe) Andrew Proctor, executive director of Literary Arts, which produces the Portland Book Festival, says audience bad sentiment comes at a price. “Even the name `art tax` sounds punitive,” he says, “and it misleads citizens that they have supported art institutions by paying the tax. They did not.
This can hurt our fundraising efforts and polarize the conversation. Adams admits he hears a lot of grunts from people in the art scene. He says he`s still proud of the tax, but he admits it could work better. But a look at the numbers and interviews with art guides show that the revenue from the tax is much lower than expected. To make matters worse, the way the tax is structured and collected has angered many Portlanders at the concept. Arts groups understand why the city now employs a debt collection agency, but don`t appreciate the PR problems created by a city that sues citizens who skip the art tax. Previously, Portland`s Big Five institutions received nearly 60 percent of the money distributed by the RACC. But that has changed over the past year. “To address the historical inequity of its current funding model and foster a more diverse arts ecosystem,” the organization announced in February 2019, “the RACC will distribute its dollars more equitably.” “It`s one of the most frustrating things for any arts organization,” says Sue Dixon, executive director of the Portland Opera, “that someone is actually looking for people who haven`t paid.” The city`s major arts organizations, which lobbied hard for the passage of the tax.
For the “Big Five” – Portland Center Stage, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Portland Art Museum, Portland Opera and Oregon Symphony – what was supposed to be a long-awaited injection of funds turned out to be a net accompanied by poor public relations. Last week, Portland computer programmer Craig Giffen launched the satirical website artstax.org promoting counterfeit products, such as a bib with the words “Still not as chaotic as Portland`s arts tax” and a t-shirt that reads, “I`m like the art tax, a good idea that was poorly implemented.” The art tax, he adds, is like any other public policy: it should be regularly upgraded. “What I keep hearing is that people in this community believe that the arts tax was a boon to arts organizations, when in fact it was the opposite,” said Scott Showalter, president of the Oregon Symphony. “He didn`t keep his promise.” But off stage, on a sunny Friday, Showalter seemed far less sure about the symphony`s future. Along with Portland`s other largest arts organizations, Showalter`s team is suffering from rising costs, diminishing public support, and, perhaps most painfully, the broken promise of the Portland art tax. At least since 1990, the city`s leading arts organizations have been looking for a permanent source of foreign funding. A big supporter? The Conseil régional des arts et de la culture has $13 million, primarily a government-funded non-profit organization that funnels money to arts groups. The art tax was well adopted with 62 to 38%. Adams stepped down two months later.
Hawthorne, the former head of RACC, says he fears the public believes the tax works. “Ten to $12 million is a lot of money,” Hawthorne says. “People can perceive that the arts have had their affluence, and now is the time to focus on more pressing needs.” Since the art tax is an income tax, there is no “bill”. Taxpayers must complete and file the art tax return and pay the tax by April 18 to avoid a penalty. He`s also proud of the number of art teachers paying the tax — 91 at last count — but he says he wants to make sure the city`s school districts don`t use taxpayer money to offset other cuts. He also fears that the Big Five will feel offended. Eight years after it was passed by Portland voters, denigrating the arts tax is almost a sport. Portlanders don`t like the tax. They have to pay $35 a year if they earn more than $1,000 in taxable income and are part of a household where someone earns more than the federal poverty line. This has led many of them not to pay for it. Four years ago, the city launched a debt collection agency on enough dead ends to fill the Moda Center. The letter from the city`s Office of Management and Finance informs Portlanders that their $35 income tax, approved by Portland voters in 2012, is due on April 18.
PORTLAND, Oregon. (KOIN) – If you live in Portland, you probably received a reminder from the city to pay your art tax on time. The search for stable funding for the arts has a long history. But the city`s art world`s pillars now have less public funding than in 2012 when the tax was passed. Despite glossy reports, passionate comments and considerable lobbying from arts organizations, nothing really happened until Adams, Mayor Vera Katz`s former longtime chief of staff, was elected to city council in 2004. The redistribution will help many small organizations that lack large donors or stable ticket sales, but it will leave traditional institutions struggling. Because of changes in how the RACC allocates funds, Ferriso says the board`s combined support for the Portland Art Museum will increase from $427,000 to $175,000 next year, less than 1 percent of the museum`s budget, which is lower than before the arts tax. Giffen, 46, says he did it too much after a few beers. But his dive is shared.
“Thanks to Portland`s arts tax,” wrote a poster titled Grufflesia on Reddit late last year, “I now actively hate art.” Reminders that the tax was due soon coincided with a similar development: Former Mayor Sam Adams, the father of the arts tax, announced in February that he would seek to return to the Portland City Council in the May election.
