Portland’s Arts Education & Access Fund
Testifying to the Impact of Access 

Last month at City Hall, two of Portland’s most inspiring arts leaders testified before City Council about the powerful impact that Portland’s new Arts Education & Access Fund will have for Portland residents when qualified non-profit arts organizations receive an increase in annual funding.

Once Arts Education & Access Fund dollars are distributed to Portland’s six school districts – allowing them to hire certified elementary arts teachers for every public Portland elementary school – the remaining funds will be distributed to the Regional Arts & Culture Council to be administered as grants to non-profit arts organizations and programs that increase access to the arts.

Both the Portland Youth Philharmonic (PYP) and the PHAME Academy currently qualify for RACC operating support grants and are likely to benefit from the Arts Education & Access Fund in the coming year. The powerful testimonials and important work of PYP and PHAME highlight the extraordinary benefits of Portland’s new Arts Education & Access Fund beyond our public school classrooms. Following are excerpts from the City Council testimony of Executive Directors Kevin A. Lefohn and Stephen Marc Beaudoin.

PHAME students were honored musical guests for Pink Martini’s “Singin’ in the Square” event, March 30, 2013 in Pioneer Courthouse Square.

PHAME Academy Executive Director Stephen Marc Beaudoin testifies before Portland City Council, March 27, 2013:

I am the Executive Director of the PHAME Academy and we are Portland’s fine and performing arts academy for young and older adults with developmental disabilities. We were also the  2011 City of Portland Making a Difference Award Winner.

The Arts Education & Access Fund supports PHAME and many other critically important arts education and access programs across the city. At PHAME, the “Arts Tax” will do a world of good for community members like PHAME student Anne Marie Plass.

“(Public funding for non-profit community arts organizations) gives me access to things that I can only get at PHAME.” explains Anne Marie. “It has given me a lot of confidence and the ability to be myself and to be challenged to do more things that I never thought that I would be able to do.”

Stephen continues. “Me too….This is a tax about people. This is about real people and real Portland neighborhoods and real programs and services that are delivered to underserved communities. This is not some luxury sedan benefiting only a few. It benefits everyone in Portland. I have faith that Portland City Council will protect and defend and continuously improve this critical new source of funding, but not for me or my benefit. For Anne Marie and other students of PHAME, kids studying music after school at Ethos in north portland, students in southeast Portland and Portland public schools, for the communities of color who see and share their stories on stage at Milagro and Portland Playhouse and many other places — they are the real beneficiaries of the Arts Education & Access Fund and they are relying on you to defend this Fund and to make it better.

The Portland Youth Philharmonic inspires and educates young people through performing symphonic music and provides a cultural asset for the community.

Portland Youth Philharmonic Executive Director Kevin A. Lefohn testifies before Portland City Council, March 27, 2013:

I’m a violinist, music educator, and I have the honor of serving as the Executive Director of this country’s first youth orchestra, Portland youth philharmonic. PYP serves 300 musicians in our community and they come from over 100 different schools. We leverage the talent of these musicians. By doing so we touch 30,000 people in our community each year. We change lives, not only those of the talents we nurture but everyday Portlanders whose hearts their talents touch.

Our signature outreach program is a series of free children’s concerts. We invite 3-8 graders to experience a performance in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert hall. Over the past two years, we’ve seen a 47% increase, a skyrocketing increase in attendance. This year alone, we have “sold out” these four concerts. We have surpassed 10,000 kids coming into our city’s jewel and they come from over 150 schools in our community. Clearly, there is an interest in arts education in our public school sector. Clearly, there is a need for ease of access.

What will be possible for PYP with this additional art tax funding, what would it take to double our attendance? Bring our musicians and conducting staff directly into the schools to further break down any barriers that exist for access to arts? We change lives. Not only those whose talents that we touch, but the every day Portlanders whose hearts their talents nurture. The tax is good for our community. Because as of November, we are now on the brink of fully restoring arts education in our community. It will help arts organizations serve our community even better.

In the words of Andrea Moon, a PYP alumna, “PYP is not just about the music to me. It is about the bridging of human relationships through music.”

Mayor Hales, Commissioners, and Citizens of this wonderful community we call Portland, together we change lives, not only those whose talents we nurture, but those whose hearts their talents touch.

There has never been a better time to speak up for the arts, on Capitol Hill and closer to home. Oregon’s Advocacy Day in Salem is just weeks away and arts education and access advocacy at Portland City Hall has never been more critical. Below you will learn how you can make a difference at the local, state and national level. Be Heard. We need your voice now more than ever.

Guiding the future of the Arts Education & Access Fund
Advocacy at Portland City Hall

After years of advocating for the establishment of a sustainable new public fund for the arts, in June 2012 Portland City Council unanimously voted to refer Measure 26-146 to the ballot. The proposed new city ordinance was designed to restore arts teachers to every Portland elementary school and increase access to the arts citywide – but only if approved by Portland voters.

“A good example of democracy in action”, Commissioner Fritz said recently of the referral. “Council could have passed this tax without sending it to the voters – we chose to send it to the voters, and it was affirmed by a large majority.” Further, she remarked, “It was referred as an ordinance rather than a charter amendment (so that) the council now has the authority to fix parts of it.”

Indeed the City of Portland did approve the Arts Education & Access Fund by 62% in the November 2012 election, but this vote does not end Portland City Council’s role in guiding and governing the groundbreaking new fund. In fact, Portland City Council may just be getting started.

Last week, Portland City Council voted unanimously to make its first change to the original ordinance – the establishment of an income threshold for income earning adult dependents of households above the poverty level – and promised to consider more proposed changes in July. During the City Council discussion of this proposed change on March 27, 2013, Mayor Hales asked the Revenue Bureau to present additional recommendations for improvements to the Arts Education & Access Fund for City Council consideration in July.

“The people of the city of Portland have spoken. We support the arts and we support an excellent public education for all of our kids,” remarked Mayor Hales. “That is the voters’ intent behind the overwhelming approval mentioned here this morning of this measure. As Commissioner Fritz pointed out, it was done by ordinance, so that the duly elected legislative body of the city of Portland can translate that intent into good public policy and competent administration. That is our job. That is what we are setting about to do here with the first ordinance to make one common sense adjustment in how this tax works in people’s lives, and then to ask our staff to come back in fairly short order working with each of us with options for how we, again, honor that intent, but make it work effectively and fairly and legally as an ongoing program of the city of Portland and for this community.”

As Commissioner Fish summed it up, “We are in effect strengthening the law of this package (through) actions we’re taking over stages, and I think it is prudent to do so…. I was proud to refer this to the voters and pleased that the voters overwhelmingly adopted it.”

We at the Creative Advocacy Network are incredibly honored to have been a part of the citizen-led movement that led to the creation and passage of the Arts Education & Access Fund. And as passionate advocates for the arts and arts education in Portland, we are working to ensure that Portland City Council continues to hear from Portland residents who are proud to have voted yes, to have paid their $35 and above all, who value these new investments in arts education and citywide access. As Portland City Council continues to guide and govern the Arts Education & Access Fund, we must continue to advocate, at the top of our lungs, for the fullfillment of the promise of arts education and access for all.

Get involved. Stay informed. Pay your Arts Tax. Together we will bring the arts to life in every Portland classroom and community.

National Advocacy Day Call to Action
An Open Letter to our United States Senators and Congressional Representatives:

Today, Tuesday, April 9 is the 2013 National Arts Advocacy Day. While we are not able to be in Washington, DC in person, we write to let you know of our support for the Arts and Culture in America.

Specifically: We support funding the National Endowment for the Arts at $155 million dollars. The NEA is a valuable federal program that has awarded more than 2,200 grants for 2012 reaching every congressional district, totaling more than $108 million in funds in FY 2012.

We support funding the Arts in Education program at the Department of Education at $30 million and retaining the Arts in Education program as a distinct grant competition in FY 2014 appropriations. We also urge you to retain the arts in the definition of core academic subjects of learning and strengthen equitable access to arts learning.

We support preserving incentives for charitable giving by protecting the charitable tax deduction from rate caps or other new limitations; we urge you to reject any attempts to divide the charitable sector which would create a hierarchy of tax deductibility favoring certain types of charities over others; and, finally, we urge you to extend the IRA Charitable Rollover.

We encourage you to join the House Arts Caucus by contacting Tess Troha-Thompson in the office of Congresswoman Louise Slaughter at (202) 225-3615 or tess.troha-thompson@mail.house.gov, or Sarah Armstrong in the office of Congressman Leonard Lance at (202) 225-5361 or sarah.armstrong@mail.house.gov.

Lastly, we would ask that you to join the new House STEAM Caucus. Through STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics), the arts connect engineering and math. For more information, please contact Carly Katz in the office of Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici at 202-225-0855 or Carly.Katz@mail.house.gov or Kelli Ripp in the office of Congressman Aaron Schock at 202-225-6201 or Kelli.Ripp@mail.house.gov.

The nonprofit arts are a $135.2 billion a year industry employing over 4.1 million people and contributing over $9.5 billion a year in federal tax revenue. In other words, the arts mean business and because most arts non profits are actually small businesses, they mean job creation.

Thank you for your consideration and your support of the arts and culture in America.

E-mail your United States Senator and Congressional Representatives today!

City Council Considers Income Threshold
And Asks Revenue Bureau to Recommend Other Improvements

On March 27, Portland City Council considered an ordinance that would create an income threshold of $1,000 on the new $35 income tax to restore arts education to every elementary school in the city’s six school districts and increase arts access citywide. The new Arts Education & Access Fund will provide stable, long-term funding for certified arts and music teachers and grants for arts programs, supplies and field trips. The Fund will also support non-profit arts organizations to increase access to the arts.

As passed by 62% of Portland voters this past November, income-earning adult residents of the City of Portland will pay $35 annually. Residents living in households at or below the federal poverty guidelines will be exempt and pay nothing.

The ordinance being considered is meant to address the burden placed on those residents with very little income, yet living in a household above the federal poverty guidelines.  An example Mayor Hales gave is of a teenager living at home who earns a small income walking dogs.

School and arts leaders testified in support of the tax and of the modification.  David Wynde, Deputy Chief Financial Officer & Budget Director of Portland Public Schools, stated “next year we’ll say that every K-5 student will have an arts teacher.  This is an equitable offering that is not true now.  PPS is strongly supportive of this tax and of the modification.”  And Deborah Edward, Executive Director of Business for Culture & the Arts testified that “the idea to tweak this to make it more equitable is commendable.”

The city commissioners were also supportive.  Nick Fish said he was “proud to refer this to the voters and glad the voters were overwhelmingly supportive…Today we’re doing a fix to strengthen the law.”

Mayor Hales stated that the “majority of Portlanders support the arts and education for all kids.  This was done by ordinance so the city can translate the intent of the voters into good public policy.”

A vote on the ordinance will occur the first week of April and the change will take place immediately.  The Revenue Bureau would refund those who fall into that category but have already paid.

Also at the meeting, Council voted unanimously on a resolution to direct the revenue bureau to bring recommendations for further improvement to the Arts Education & Access Income Tax for the 2013 tax year and beyond.

Arts Tax Deadline Extended. www.artstax.net
Portlanders Now Have Until May 15 to Pay Their Arts Tax.

The City of Portland Revenue Bureau has extended the filing deadline for the new Arts Tax until May 15, 2013.  The extension (for this year only) will allow city residents an extra month to pay their $35 income tax for the Arts Education & Access Fund. By extending the deadline, the City hopes to increase compliance and lessen the burden for those residents who are still learning about the new tax.

Due annually beginning this year in 2013, Portland’s new $35 income tax for income-earning adult residents of Portland (and exempting any taxpayer under the federal poverty limit) will generate approximately $12.2 million in annual net revenue. Passed into law when 62% of Portland voters approved Ballot Measure 24-146 last November, the Arts Education & Access Fund is a local income tax to restore arts education to every Portland elementary school and fund arts education and access programs citywide.

To ensure that every Portland resident receives ample information about this new local income tax, www.artstax.net answers frequently asked questions; provides an overview of the Fund’s investments, its Citizen Oversight Committee, and the City Code, Rules and Policies; and offers online payment and exemption request options. In addition to this comprehensive online resource, the City of Portland Revenue Bureau will also be reaching out to all Portland residents by mail.

The tax can be paid by credit card, ACH, or by mail.  However the taxes are paid, these new tax dollars will be put to work immediately.

When the school year begins next Fall, nearly 70 elementary school arts teachers will be sustainably funded, every elementary school student in Portland’s six school districts will be guaranteed an arts education, and arts supplies, programs and field trips will be more accessible for all school-age children through grant funding for Portland’s schools and non-profits. Centennial, David Douglas, Parkrose, Portland Public,  Reynolds and Riverdale school districts will all benefit from the Arts Education & Access Fund while grants from the Regional Arts & Culture Council will provide Portland’s non-profit arts organizations with the public support they need to bring the arts to life for every Portland resident.

At the Creative Advocacy Network, we know that the arts improve our schools, shape our neighborhoods, fuel our economy and improve the livability of this city that we love. And now, with a simple annual $35 tax payment, we can ensure that every Portland resident has access to our city’s cultural and creative riches.