The Power of the Arts group is attempting to change the Ohio Revised Code, Section 5743.021, to allow the voters of the Mahoning Valey to fund the arts through a local cigarette tax option.
Would you vote for a small tax on local cigarette sales to fund the arts in the Mahoning Valley?
Cuyahoga County already has such a tax.
ABSOLUTELY NO!!!!!!!!!!!
SMOKERS ARE TAXED ENOUGH AS IT IS WITHOUT SOME MORE TAXES BEING PUT ON THEM.
IF THE ARTS CAN'T GET ALONG ON THEIR MERITS THEN THEY NEED TO GET REAL JOBS!!!!!!!!!
NOT A SINGLE PENNY ... NOTHING ... I'M SICK AND TIRED WITH PEOPLE TRYING TO BLEED SMOKERS FOR EVERY HALF BAKED PROJECT THAT COMES DOWN THE PIKE ... WHO DOES THE POWER OF THE ARTS OUTFIT THINK THEY ARE ANY WAY !!!
towntalk i agree with you on this issue. i was at that meeting, i told one of the people on the advisory ad hoc committee to ask the oil and gas companies for seed monies for this project. these companies have recieved enough corp welfare to fatten their coffers. its time for them to pony up for the residents of mah valley to show that they want to be a part of this valley. i will vote for a sales tax that everyone pays legal or illegal residents to support the arts.
Among the organizations in the Power Of The Arts are Butler Institute of Art, WYSU, and the Youngstown Symphony ... all three already get corporate sponsorship as well as bequests and other grants ... I also note from the web site for this outfit that the Lemon Grove is involved ... why should we support this joint that caters to radical groups such as Occupy Youngstown and its ilk?
You done shouting yet? I was also at the meeting, and apparently Jay and iwasthere were not listening. Power of the Arts is not lobbying for a cigarette tax per se. They want to change the Ohio Revised Code to give county commissioners the power to create art districts and give them the power to fund the district through levying a tax. The current ORC only gives Cuyahoga county that power and that county chose a cigarette tax.
I don't see what purpose the art district will serve. They were a bit vague on what it actually would do, who it would serve and how. So I am skeptical.
Yes I am. Happy?
If anyone deserves funding it's organizations such as yours. Not a gaggle of would be actors, and artist wanna-be's. My goodness, the great artists of the past had wealthy folks sponsoring them, not little folks.
The newspaper must have also got it wrong when they gave the story this headline, "Arts group lobbies for cigarette tax."
The confusion is caused by the speakers not being very clear in what they are advocating, but at one point it was stated that a cigarette tax is but one option for funding of this effort.
Did you notice the politician-speak when a woman asked how much money they needed for the arts district? Damn, he talked about everything but addressing her question. Now if they want us to lobby the State legislature to change the law to permit imposing new taxes, I would think that having a dollar figure would be rather important, as well as what they would spend the money on.
The more I think about it, the less I am in favor of this initiative.
Let me preface this by saying I was not at this meeting.
Asking how much money is needed for an arts district, is sort of like asking how much money is needed for a new car, without saying what kind of car.
The Garden District Neighborhood has proclaimed itself to be an arts district; a place for artists to live and possibly work, if they don't already have work space down the street in the Mahoning Commons. Right now, we do have a few artists living in the neighborhood, becaused we asked them, and they happened to be looking for a new place to live. If we were able to provide some kind of an incentive for these "starving artists" we might find more.
That's the problem with politicians and advocacy groups ... the politicians all without exception double talk around issues and the advocacy want to keep their paws in other people's pockets, and what segment of our population is easier to rob than folks that smoke? As far as I'm concerned these people are just another group on the dole. I support the Butler, the Youngstown Symphony, and the Youngstown Playhouse, but as for the rest nada ... no ... never! As far as I'm concerned they could disappear tomorrow and wouldn't be missed.
I notice that certain people who promote events here ignore the valley's real arts treasures as if they didn't exist ... Butler ... Youngstown Symphony ... the Playhouse.
Jay, apparently the reporter for the Vindy didn't hear what Rick heard.
Arts group lobbies for cigarette tax
At a meeting Tuesday, about 75 members of the Valley's arts and cultural community were updated on progress made by Power of the Arts, an umbrella organization of area arts and entertainment groups.
Steering committee member Mark Mangie called on POA members to urge state legislators to support an effort to allow all counties to enact a cigarette tax to fund cultural groups. Currently, only Cuyahoga County has the power to impose the tax.
POA members were supplied with contact information for all regional lawmakers at the meeting, which was held at The Butler Institute of American Art.
SOURCE: The Vindicator
The man who did most of the leg work for this issue is a Republican and he sure let everyone in attendance know it. I believe he also acknowledged that the head of the Mahoning County Republican Party was in the audience.
Members of both major parties are working together on this one.
Jay, what chaps my hide is the fact that any time some group wants to raise money they target tobacco users, but totally ignore targeting liquor. Drinkers are a vastly larger group than smokers, and more dangerous when drunk.
What's one of the most popular fund raising events the arts hold? Wine and cheese tasting. If those hypocrits said to put a tax on both tobacco and beer, wine and whisty, I wouldn't be so adament in my opposition.
rr i heard right the republicans that are on the poa wanted a art district modeled after cuyfalls district that levied a smokers's tax on cigs. the letter that was handed out was written in a format that the poa wanted the attending audence to write to the the ne legistrators to pass a art district that is funded by a levied tax.
Yes iwasthere, funded by a levied tax, BUT NOT NECCISARILY A CIGARETTE TAX! It would be up to the county commissioners to determine what form that tax would be. Towntalk is making an issue where there is none, based upon a poor presentation by the POA people and reporters who did not pay attention to what they were hearing.
So everyone is wrong but Rick ... were you privy to what the reporter asked before and after the meeting? I seriously doubt it.
My point was and still is that the tax payers should not be forced to provide funds for "starving artists", and I fail to see how our local economy is dependent on them. How many unemployed men and women in the county have been put back to work by the arts crowd and taken of the welfare rolls?
The arts as a whole are dependent on volunteers ... non paid volunteers. Granted the Youngstown Symphony and the Butler Institute of American Art are exceptions, but the rest are volunteers.
Oh, I know that there are those who think differently, and that's their privilege, but until they can show us how Youngstown and Mahoning County's unemployment can shrink because of the arts, I will continue to oppose any tax, no matter how small for the support of the arts.
it is a tax no matter which way the cty com word it if it goes on the ballot. what was surprising is republicans leading the way for an art district by funding it through a tax in which the republicans do not like paying or funding th arts. my only guess there must be money to made from the artists.
it is a tax no matter which way the cty com word it if it goes on the ballot. what was surprising is republicans leading the way for an art district by funding it through a tax in which the republicans do not like paying or funding th arts. my only guess there must be money to made from the artists.
POA did a poor job of conveying their message at the meeting. They did not establish a defined problem nor a clear solution to that problem. they are asking for a change to the ORC but having a draft of the proposed changes would have greatly helped their cause.
I do not have a problem with a local government enacting a tax to support the arts if that is what the people want. Local and state governments have that ability to meet the needs of their populations. However it is clearly out of the purvue of the Federal government to do such a thing as it is not an enumerated power. these matters are best left to the the state and local governments and their citizens anyways.
But yes, I do find that usually everyone but me is wrong! :)
rr from your previous postings concerning taxes you oppose all taxes. now you are saying you have no problem with a tax that supports the arts. my question to you rr, what is it in it for you to have a tax to support the arts?
First, I do not oppose all taxes. I oppose Federal taxes for activities that are not defined by the constitution. Second, read the last paragraph of my above post again. There is a clear difference between the purpose and function of the three levels of government. I oppose property taxes as that is an assault on private property ownership, but an evenly applied tax (such as a sales tax) to fund local needs and approved by the citizens would be OK with me.
I'm so screwy, I think that the Federal government should divide the total budget by the number of citizens above 18 and send each of us a bill for what would truly be our FAIR SHARE! If "all men are created equal", then everyone should pay an equal share!
All men are created equal, that is a biological fact, but some are created more equal than others, and neither you, iwasthere or myself are in the more equal than others class, while dudes like Timmy Ryan and Shredded "Buster" Brown ;D are in the more equal class, and they arn't about lowering themselves to our level.
Rick, any updates on your project?