Thanks to the voters of Cuyahoga County, Issue 55–the cigarette tax for the arts–has passed. And once again, public support for the arts has passed overwhelmingly, with unofficial results reporting 72 percent of voters in favor of the measure. That boosts the tax on cigarettes to 70 cents per pack, which at least in the near term will lift public funding for the arts nearly to its level when voters first approved it 18 years ago. The arts sector can celebrate and breathe a sigh of relief for now. Collective Arts Network is certainly grateful, as this nonprofit organization is supported in part by the tax.

Regardless, it’s time now for Arts leadership—and all our leadership—to find the next source of revenue for public funding for the sector which does so much for neighborhoods, for quality of life, for bridge building among people, and for the local economy. Starting at the new level, revenue from the cigarette tax will continue to decline. Well before the new tax expires in 10 years, we’ll confront that again. And in the meantime, it continues to put the funding burden on a minority of the population. We can’t wait for the next crisis.

If County Executive Chris Ronayne believes the Arts are an important part of the region, if Cuyahoga County Council believes it is a benefit to the people and neighborhoods they represent, if Mayor Justin Bibb sees the Arts as an important part of city life, we need those officials to stand up and be part of the plan.

One of the challenges in the hunt for a different source of revenue has been the need to get the State of Ohio’s permission to make any change to the tax on cigarettes—or to include other tobacco products, or to tax liquor sales, to tax marijuana. But Cuyahoga County does not need permission from the state to levy a new real estate tax. The county is empowered to do that on its own. It’s time for county leadership to take us down this road.

A property tax would meet with resistance, especially as valuations have risen. The first time Cuyahoga County proposed a tax for the Arts, it was a property tax. That failed. But that was the first time public support for the Arts was on the ballot. It was a new idea. Since then, public support for the Arts has passed overwhelmingly.

What if the Arts sector allied with another extremely popular benefit to neighborhoods and the regional quality of life to make a new request? What if, for example, the Arts were bundled with the Cleveland Metroparks, which is funded by a county-wide real estate tax and has overwhelming voter support? What if all those leaders—County Executive Ronayne, Mayor Bibb, and a roster of county council representatives, plus other mayors and public officials who tout the Arts as a strength—what if they reached out to metroparks leadership to say “let’s do this together”?

A real estate tax would touch a much broader and wealthier segment of the population than the tax on cigarettes. While the cigarette tax is rightly criticized for putting the funding burden on lower income communities which skew statistically toward people of color, a tax on real estate would spread the burden much wider, more equitably, and into the suburbs. And the millage required to replace the $20 million once generated by the cigarette tax with a tax on real estate would be small.

It is important to continue exploring all avenues, and notably marijuana, beer, wine, and liquor. However, the bottom line is that the time is now to make a new plan. County leaders have said as much.

When county council discussed and ultimately approved putting the cigarette tax back on the ballot, District 6 representative Jack Schron talked about struggling over the vote, noting that he lost a brother to cigarettes, and saying he thinks “people would support another revenue stream.”

Councilman Michael Gallagher, representing District 5, put it bluntly: “you’ve got to find something else.”

A 72 percent majority is a pretty strong mandate. So let’s go.