I object to Portland’s Arts Tax not because I oppose the arts, but because I oppose the way this tax is justified, (“Arts tax reform could let some off the hook, but it won’t fix one big problem,” May 3).
Portlanders are required to pay this flat tax regardless of their interest in the arts programs it supports. Even though the tax nominally goes to arts education in the Portland area, a significant portion of the revenue is distributed to private arts organizations, raising a basic question of principle and justice: why should the public be compelled to subsidize institutions that they neither use nor value? Cultural participation is a personal decision, and funding it through a mandatory tax is simply wrong.
If the city proposed a similar tax for sports, people would be screaming bloody murder. Can you imagine a $35‑per‑year tax to support the Portland Pickles, the Timbers, Portland Bangers FC or even the Multnomah Athletic Club? Probably not. Yet the principle is the same: public funds for sports would be no different than public funds for arts. Public money should be used exclusively for public purposes, not private ones…