The San Diego City Council voted unanimously Monday to approve a “Penny for the Arts” plan that would increase arts and culture funding from the city’s Transient Occupancy Tax.
The plan’s recommendations, which would have to be formally incorporated by the new mayor and council into the city’s annual budget, would restore the arts and culture component of the TOT to nearly 10 percent by 2017, the same percentage the arts received from the TOT in 2002 before council starting cutting the arts allotment.
“The arts and culture community has consistently proven their value to the city,” said Victoria Hamilton, executive director of the city’s Commission for Arts and Culture, which administers the city’s arts funding programs. “And we have demonstrated that Penny for the Arts will give San Diego a great return on investment.”
The Penny for the Arts plan, which could generate nearly $18 million for the arts by 2017, would affect arts funding in four significant areas:
• Restore funding to the Organizational Support Program (OSP) and Creative Communities San Diego (CCSD) allocations programs.
The OSP program is the city’s core arts support program, helping to fund more than 75 San Diego cultural organizations from the San Diego Museum of Art to the Gaslamp Quarter Historical Foundation with critical operating support.
The CCSD supports an additional 35 smaller groups and festivals, from the Italian-American Art and Culture Association of San Diego to the Linda Vista Multi-Cultural Fair.
• Re-establish the Arts and Culture Festival Revolving Fund
This would start with a bang, with the plan front loading $1 million in 2013 and $2 million in 2014 toward the 2015 Balboa Park Centennial Celebration. It would then be used to support subsequent major arts and culture festivals (including a potential annual, citywide festival, launched in 2016 or 2017, which has long been a dream of arts proponents and cultural tourism advocates).
• Contribute annual allocations to the Public Art Fund
With the budget crisis, the city’s Public Art Program had been placed on hold, but the hold expired earlier this year even though the program was unfunded. The new funds would support the community-based creation of new artworks, activities that improve public access to the city’s existing artworks, and preservation of existing artworks.
• Support special projects and initiatives
This would include funding for restoration and improvements of city-owned cultural facilities (the Civic Theatre comes to mind) and for marketing programs touting San Diego as a cultural tourism destination.
If approved by the new mayor and council as part of the 2013 budget, the plan would produce $8.87 million for the arts (including the $1 million for Balboa Park) in its first year.
The arts received $7.3 million from the TOT in 2012.
courtesy of: http://www.utsandiego.com
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