Like you, we heaved a massive sigh of relief last week when House Bill 1828 was finally passed in Harrisburg, saving Philly from an immediate future of nightmarish dystopian proportions (about which, to be honest, we had a kind of morbid curiosity, but it’s best not to dwell on such things). In any case, only a Philadelphian fool would expect no other shoe to drop when a bargain is made with Harrisburg, and folks, here it is: Snuck into the bill is a performing arts and museum tax that would add 8% for tickets purchased in the city and 6% for those purchased outside. Movies and sports are exempt, but not much else is. So for Philadelphians, it’ll look something like this:

· A ticket to see R5 Productions‘ show at International House on the 29th with krautrock pioneers Faust would go from $20 to $21.60.
· Tickets for a family of four to go to the Philadelphia Museum of Art would go from $56 (two adults, two students) to $60.48.

And so on. And the tax provokes a lot of questions: Are these hikes deal-breakers? Real talk: Probably not. If you were taking your family of four to the Art Museum (or to see Faust, you kooky hipster Dad), yes, you would feel the pain most. But you’d be expecting to shell out some dough anyway, and if money was this much of concern, you’d be scoping out things like pay-what-you-wish days and free concerts.
Frankly, we’re more interested in the ancillary questions: How does this get policed? What happens if you’re a small-time promoter who uses an online ticketing service like Brown Paper Tickets? Will the tax truly precipitate a decline in attendance in arts events and museums overall? And why in the hell didn’t the state also tax sports and movies? (Idiocracy!)
But the bottom line is this: The Arts in Philadelphia can, and will, bear it. While you can already hear the drums of protest beating — see the Philadelphia Cultural Alliance‘s call to action after the jump — the fact is, we got our libraries back. And our rec centers. And trash will be picked up every week instead of every other week. And because of the quality of life here overall, Philadelphia remains as one of the greatest artist-incubators in the world. In that light, it’s worth every goddamned penny. And if you don’t like it, it’s a challenge to all of us who put on events in this city: Find ways to make more shit that’s free. You can’t tax free. In the meantime, the tax, in this weird way, gives all of us who are either artists, promoters, or people who work for non-profits something that can make us hold our heads high: See this wonderful party of a city? Yeah, we’re paying for that. Have a good time. After the jump, like we say, a different view, and what you can do.

After an 80 day impasse, Governor Rendell and leaders in the General Assembly announced a budget deal Friday evening. Great news, right? Not so fast….

It seems that Governor Rendell and the General Assembly think they can balance a budget on the backs of our region’s arts and culture. For the first time in Pennsylvania, the state sales tax will be applied to tickets for theater, dance and performing arts events, concerts, museums, historical sites, zoos and parks. The word from Harrisburg is that this revenue generated from these taxes could result in long-term funding for our sector. However, sports and movies – which we all know to be big revenue generators – can keep their tax exemptions in Pennsylvania. Why are nonprofit cultural institutions being singled out?

In these tough times, even a small increase in a ticket price can be the deciding factor for a family of four looking to spend an afternoon at the Philadelphia Zoo or the Museum of Art. A tax will decrease the affordability of Philadelphia’s myriad cultural attractions – and hurt organizations who are already seeing a decline in admissions and revenue.

If Harrisburg is serious about looking for long-term solutions to fund arts and culture – then we should be invited to the table. Let’s band together to let our legislators know we think a sales tax on nonprofit cultural institutions is shortsighted – and that we want an invitation to the converstion. Once the budget agreement is drafted into legislation, we’ll only have a ten day window – so the time to act is not tomorrow, but NOW.

Here’s what you can do:

Step 1: Find the Harrisburg office phone number (look for the 717 area code) for both your state senator and representative using our handy Legislator Lookup.
Step 2: Need some help with your message? Use the following call script:
Hello, my name is ________, and as a resident of _______, I’m calling in opposition to an expansion of the state sales tax on the backs of nonprofit arts and cultural organizations in order to balance the FY10 state budget. In these tough economic times, increases on ticket prices only taxes out working families out of theaters, museums, and zoos. Interestingly, sports and movies – which are huge revenue generators for Pennsylvania – remain exempt from the tax. This doesn’t seem right. I think that those of us who work in, or support these nonprofit institutions in our region should be a part of the conversation on long-term solutions for cultural funding. I ask that Senator/Representative _________ brings this message to caucus leadership before the budget is signed into law.
Step 3: Once you’ve delivered the above message, ask if you can meet with your legislator in person to deliver the same message. Need some help in preparing for a meeting? Email sarac@philaculture.org with any questions – and please report your call and if you’ve scheduled a visit to the same address.
I know I’ve asked a lot of you this summer, but every single time, you’ve mobilized quickly. This time, it’s more important than ever. We can’t let our legislators get away with a last ditch effort to close the state budget. Governor Rendell should know better – he laid the foundation of Greater Philadelphia’s artistic and cultural renaissance through projects like the Avenue of the Arts. Nonprofit arts and cultural organizations aren’t in the business for profits – but to provide quality, affordable programming for all members of the community. We can’t tax those opportunities away.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 21st, 2009 at 12:17 pm.