The cigarette tax had two goals: provide funding for the arts and reduce smoking in our region. It worked, but as smoking fell, so did revenue for the arts. Now what? The Ohio legislature, not known for favoring progressive policies, art, or Cleveland, nonetheless responded positively to Cuyahoga County arts advocates’ early-aughts request to create a revenue stream to fund […]
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Arts funding in Cuyahoga County could get a significant boost by the end of 2023. Just before Christmas, 2022, The Ohio legislature passed a bill that includes permission for Cuyahoga County to put before its voters a revision of the cigarette tax that supports the arts. Governor Mike Dewine signed the bill January 2. Jeremy Johnson, director of the advocacy […]
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The effort to get additional public money to support the arts in Cuyahoga County is a lesson in taking what you can get. That’s been true from the beginning, but the current push to extend the cigarette tax beyond just cigarettes makes the point all over again. Counties seeking authority to tax for a specific purpose have to get permission […]
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Educators talk about “teachable moments”– those times when learning comes easily because something happens that makes information relevant. This is one of those times for people concerned about public funding for the arts in Cuyahoga County. As if to highlight the need to find something other than a cigarette tax to provide such revenue, a recent State of Ohio budget […]
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Maybe this is a good time to talk. Just over 75 percent of the people who cast ballots in Cuyahoga County in November voted in favor of renewed public support of the arts and culture through its 30 cent per pack tax on cigarettes. That’s an overwhelming number. And a few months earlier, when the County Council discussed putting the […]
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