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Columbus City Council OKs Ticket Tax to Fund Arts, Arena Repairs
By: Associated Press
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – The Columbus City Council has approved two 5 percent taxes on arts, sports and entertainment ticket sales to fund the arts and improvements to the multipurpose Nationwide Arena in Ohio’s capital city.
The council voted 6-0 Monday to adopt the taxes that would begin to be collected on July 1, 2019.
One tax will be on performances and sporting events costing more than $10 a ticket at venues with more than 400 seats, not including Nationwide Arena. It will raise $6 million for arts groups. The second tax will generate an estimated $2.4 million for arena repairs and $600,000 for the arts.
Opponents say the taxes would hurt event attendance. They plan to seek a ballot referendum on the arts tax and file a legal challenge to the arena tax.