New Jersey Voters Choose an Art Tax

by Kavya Gurunath

Edited by Uday Lingampalli, Manushri Bapat, & Taruni Manam; Layout by Aathmika Radhachandran, Art by Sharon Pan

A Heavy Blow

As coronavirus spread throughout the globe, people lost their money, their homes and their jobs. Some lost more than others, and the art community took a heavy blow. Theaters, concerts, museums and art galleries were shut down to prevent the spread of COVID-19. As people were given stay-at-home orders, lots of artists lost their money and their jobs. The pandemic also caused economic burdens on many cities. Jersey City was no exception. The city faced many financial difficulties while combating the pandemic, in addition to dealing with the stress of the 2020 election, yet they managed to pass a referendum that provided funding for the arts.

A Stream of Money

64% of voters have agreed to pass this non-binding referendum. It will produce a stream of money for the arts, that is unaffected by budget negotiations, where leaders of the city decide how to use the budget for their city. In these negotiations, art is often the easiest to cut out of the budget. Passing this referendum will add a property tax on the people, and that money will go toward funding the arts.

The government will probably levy a tax of ½ cent per $100 of property value. The money that comes directly from the tax-payers isn’t part of the city budget, making sure that the money is unaffected by budget negotiations.

A Long Struggle

Passing the bill was a long struggle. The city’s art leaders started championing the funding of art a decade ago. By 2018, they declared they wanted a portion of the budget to be dedicated towards art, but Mayor Fulop said that the portion would just end up being cut. He suggested a fund using money from taxpayers, which is how the idea of this referendum came into existence. The referendum finally managed to get on the 2020 ballot, but was almost taken off when Mayor Fulop thought people wouldn’t support it due to the economic effects of the pandemic. Art leaders needed this bill, because they were impacted heavily by the pandemic. They polled 400 people on whether they would support the bill, and the majority said yes. This convinced the mayor to keep the bill on the ballot.

A Sense of Relief

This referendum will generate between $1 million to $2 million each year. Though this is still not enough, the majority of the art community finds the passing of this bill important, as it proves to them that they are considered a valuable part of society. The money will be distributed to individuals or organizations who are approved by a committee. Timing was key with this bill’s passage. If they had waited another year, many artists would have left the city, causing art organizations to collapse. The funds have brought a sense of relief to art organizations that were struggling due to the pandemic.

A More Hopeful World

For years, the arts have suffered. They were always the first to get cut, whether in an art class at school or funding for art organizations in the city. Art is an essential part of life. It allows us to express, create, and watch others do the same. Art inspires us. It moves us. It changes us. It helps us escape. It is part of human nature. Think about how different life would be without movies, songs, paintings, plays, TV shows, etc. Art can provide hope. Other cities need to follow the lead of Jersey City to fund the arts, in order to help create a more beautiful, hopeful world.