With only two days left before Salt Lake County residents vote on the proposed sales tax for the arts, its proponents have a big selling job to do.
The dimensions of the challenge should be clear from the recent poll showing that among all county residents the margin is 48 percent in favor of the one-tenth of a 1 percent sales tax compared to 42 percent against. But among those very likely to go to the voting booth on June 8, the poll indicates a tossup - with 49 percent in favor of the proposition and 49 percent against it.More significantly, pollster Dan Jones indicates that recent trends favor the opposition.
Even though the campaign has been short, Salt Lake County residents should be reasonably familiar with both sides of the argument by now. In essence, the argument for the tax is that it is needed to preserve the more than 100 arts and cultural organizations whose continued existence is essential to maintaining the high quality of life needed to keep attracting new business and industry to Utah. The argument against the tax centers on objections that it would fall too heavily on the poor and that the arts should be self-sustaining.
Sadly, there's room for fearing that some of the opposition is based not on honest policy differences but on misinformation. For example, some critics insist that certain arts organi-za-tions already receive plenty of public funding and that the proposed tax would simply enrich the rich.
Not so! The Utah Symphony in particular and some other arts organizations are running big deficits. So big, in fact, are those deficits that even if the arts tax is approved on Tuesday it would still take several years to eliminate the red ink.
Moreover, some of the opposition is based on a misrepresentation of the poor. We're referring to repeated attempts to claim that the poor do not benefit from Utah arts and cultural activities in which they supposedly have little interest.
Wrong again! It is simply slanderous to imply that an empty pocketbook means an empty mind or an empty soul. Various arts and cultural organizations strive to keep ticket prices low as a means of helping the poor, and some of these organizations also provide free performances for low-income groups. Without the proposed arts tax, these efforts to help the poor could be among the first to be cut.
Likewise, it's a gross distortion to characterize the proposed tax as an undue burden on the poor. The tax would amount to only one cent on each $10 of sales. The comes to just 10 cents for every $100 trip to the grocery store. In a year's time, the total tab is expected to come to only $12 to $20 per family.
Without the tax, the arts and cultural organizations face the prospect of having to lay off personnel and reduce their activities in response to costs that are rising faster than revenue from all sources. The problem results not just from inflation and a sour national economy but from cutbacks in federal funding.
If Salt Lake County residents are deeply committed to education, they should care about the future of the arts, too. After all, the arts contribute to the quality of the educational system. Last year some 200,000 children attended school programs at Ballet West, the Utah Symphony, and Utah Opera. Another 140,000 visited the Salt Lake Arts Center, and 50,000 went to Hogle Zoo.
Requests for these and other outreach services far exceed the current financial ability of the various arts and cultural organizations. With more funding, these organizations could provide more community services.
A "no" vote on Tuesday will be a vote to put short-sighted penny-pinching against the long-term public interest. A solid majority in favor of the arts tax will show that Salt Lake Valley has its values and priorities straight.