Idea #1: Tax Ads to Fund Public Art: How a billboard tax in Toronto is helping to stem the neon tide of illegal signs and give local artists a voice
[Editor's Note: For your consideration, we'd like to present the 2010 edition of New Ideas for the New Year. This popular annual series highlights creative ideas for improving our lives and communities. We'll publish a new one starting today until Jan. 1.]
On Dec. 7, Toronto’s city council delivered the rarest of political creatures — a new tax with broad public support. The tax on billboards was proposed to help enforce the bylaws governing signs, and also fund public art to offset the blight of outdoor advertising.
Even as it was passed, the reform package is a victory for the public space activists, community groups and artists who pushed it through council. Toronto’s 13 separate sets of bylaws have been harmonized, and for once may be enforced, thanks to new fines. Changes to the zoning variance process will make approving new signs more difficult. The tax will generate an estimated $10.4 million each year. That revenue is not explicitly directed to the arts — its destination will be officially decided by the budget committee — but the folks at BeautifulCity.ca, a coalition of 64 community groups that fought for the new laws alongside the Toronto Public Space Committee (TPSC) and a group called IllegalSigns.ca, are optimistic about their chances in the budget process.
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