Correspondence - Item 15 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Several recommendations to develop a fund for arts infrastructure include: • Voluntary millage fee promoted via utility bills • Dedicating a percentage of business taxes and fees • Dedicating Hotel/Motel tax dollars • Applying for grants such as: • ArtPlace America Grant (up to $500,000) • National Endowment for the Arts Our Town Grant (up to $250,000) • California Arts Council Creative California Communities Grant (up to $70,000) • If the City decides to proceed with a live-work venue, a combination of a bond issue, tax increment and private fund-raising could augment the resources that the nonprofit developer would be raising. Over the longer term, the City should seek to institute a dedicated revenue stream to fund its arts and cultural development programs. Examples include: • Many cities, including many in California, allocate a portion of the Transit Occupancy • (Hotel) Tax for the arts. • More than 600 municipalities allocate between 1% and 2% of CIP project budgets for public art. • Some cities extend the percent for art requirement to new private commercial, industrial and residential development. • Some cities broaden the definition of public art in their percent for art policy to include arts programming in public spaces. • Some cities (Denver, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, Pittsburgh) have created arts and cultural funding districts that dedicate sales or property tax to fund the arts. It should be noted that such dedication of taxes to specific purposes requires a 2/3rds vote of the citizens under California's Proposition 13. • Sometimes Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) collect funds to support funding for the arts. • There are many cities that have created Friends of the Arts organizations or foundations to generate private funding for the arts. • For vacant buildings, cities have established fees/fines for buildings that remain vacant for extended periods of time. This program has proved very successful in cities such as San Antonio. Recommendation 8.1: Develop a Public Art Program. Initiative 8.1.1: Adopt a two percent for art ordinance or policy for all City CIP projects. It is recommended the program utilize professional art selection panels (see Recommendation 2.1 regarding peer panels). The intent of the program is to select 5