City Ticket Taxes Face Legal Opposition

The two funding streams created by Columbus City Council to support the Greater Columbus Arts Council (GCAC) as well as Nationwide Arena and other publicly funded facilities are under legal attack. 

The 1851 Center for Constitutional Law, based in Columbus, is circulating a petition to put a charter amendment on the November ballot that would prohibit the City from enforcing a tax or fee to attend a performance or event in Columbus. The group has also served City Hall with a demand letter on behalf of Columbus taxpayers and businesses subject to the tax, to which the city has 30 days to respond before a lawsuit is filed.

“Funding private art and the operations of private art corporations is neither an essential nor proper function of government,” said 1851 Center Executive Director Maurice Thompson in a press release. “It is especially troubling when a city already awash in tax revenue funds purely-private causes and interests by imposing even higher taxes on residents.”

Council established the Creativity Fund and the Stability Fund in December 2018. The former would put a 5 percent tax on most non-charitable events in the city to support arts and cultural grants through GCAC, while the latter, a separate 5 percent tax on events at Nationwide Arena, is designed to cover capital and ongoing improvements to the Arena and other public-owned facilities. As is stands, these taxes would go into effect on July 1.

Stefanie Coe is a member of Protect Art 4 Columbus, the citizen-led coalition advocating for and educating the public on the ticket taxes. She believes out-of-town promoters are responsible for the pushback against the fees.

“These out-of-town promoters are coming into Columbus, making money, and leaving,” she says. “And really, this ticket fee is about ensuring all citizens have access to arts, entertainment, music and cultural events throughout the city, and increasing those services across the community.”

The 1851 Center asserts that taxing residents to fund a private corporation “raises money for a corporation,” which would violate Article VIII of the Ohio Constitution.

“It’s inappropriate for government to pick winners and losers by taxing expression it views as too pedestrian, such as concerts, movies, and sports, to prop up sometimes-competing elitist artistic expression,” Thompson added. “People, not politicians or special interests should assess and determine the value and worth of art.”

The organization has until July 3 to collect 11,030 valid signatures for the measure to appear on the November ballot.

Read the 1851 Center’s demand letter here.

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