By
Nolan Finley / The Detroit News
omewhere in the back of
my closet, there’s a scratchy album by Billy Edd Wheeler, a clever but
little-recognized ‘60s Appalachian folk singer.
I haven’t played it in a while, mainly because I
haven’t had a needle for my turntable in a while. (My teen-aged son
recently declared in disgust: “Your stereo system is older than
me!”)
Anyway, Wheeler has a track on the album, After
Taxes, which pretty well sums up how most of us feel when we look at
our pay stubs. The best I can recall (remember, my turntable is busted)
Wheeler runs through the litany of taxes — “Mmmmm, withholding tax,
there goes the new fence for my farm. Mmmmm, luxury tax, there goes that
bracelet for her arm,” and on and on and on, before finishing with the
chorus:
“By the time my good old Uncle Sam gets through
I’ve got just enough left for gas
To see those city limits pass
And if I get back home first class I’d say
I’ve won.”
OK, it’s a lot closer to Roger Miller than
Rogers and Hammerstein.
But the song rattles around my head now and then
when I think about all the money that goes out of my paycheck to support
the various governmental entities I count as dependents. By the time I
tally up state, city and federal income taxes, Social Security taxes,
property taxes, sales taxes, gasoline taxes, capital gains taxes,
telephone taxes and all those other specialty taxes I can’t keep track
of, the government’s share of my earnings is bigger than mine.
So the thought of volunteering to pay even more
taxes gives me the creeps.
But if given a chance, I’d vote for the regional
cultural tax proposed for the November ballot.
The cultural tax would add a half-mill to the tax
burden of property owners in Wayne and Oakland counties, or about $37.50
per year on a $150,000 home. The money raised, about $36 million, would
support cultural institutions in the two counties. Most of the money
would go to 17 of the largest such facilities, including the Detroit
Zoo, Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History, Detroit
Institute of Arts, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Henry Ford Museum &
Greenfield Village, the Holocaust Memorial Center and Cranbrook.
A half-mill isn’t much. But lots of little taxes
add up to a big tax bill, so even the smallest millage request
shouldn’t slip through without close scrutiny. That’s how we get the
kind of tax creep we’ve seen since Proposal A slashed property taxes
in half in 1994. A half-mill here and a quarter-mill there, and school
districts and municipalities have steadily pushed property taxes closer
to pre-Prop A levels.
But in the case of the cultural tax, the benefits
merit the costs.
A big reason for living in a large metropolitan
area is the cultural amenities. Theaters, museums, symphonies and other
centers of learning and enrichment help attract and keep residents and
the companies that employ them.
Metro Detroit’s cultural jewels have too long
suffered from inconsistent finances and nasty political fights over who
should foot the bill for maintaining regional attractions. Some, like
Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village, fare better because of rich
endowments and strong corporate sponsors. But others, particularly the
Detroit Institute of Arts, have drastically curtailed operating hours,
sometimes to the point of making them useless as tourism draws.
The cultural tax would recognize that everyone in
the region benefits from having first-class art centers and would
provide a steady level of operating funds.
The fate of the tax rests now with the Oakland and
Wayne county commissions and Detroit City Council, which must decide by
the end of August whether to put it on the ballot.
Oakland residents would pay a disproportionate
share of the tax, strictly because of higher property values in the
county. Commissioners are right to demand that Oakland get a bigger
voice in administering the tax.
But once that issue is resolved, political leaders
in Oakland County, Detroit and Wayne County should give voters a chance
to decide whether they value culture enough to support it with their tax
dollars.
Backers of the tax are promising reduced or free
admissions for school groups, as well as more community outreach
programs. That’s a good idea. The more people exposed to the
institutions’ offerings, and the younger the age of exposure, the more
private support they can expect in the future.
We can afford this tax. We can’t afford to let
our cultural treasures become as obsolete as my turntable.
Nolan Finley is editorial page editor of The Detroit News. His
column is published on Sunday. Write letters to 615 W. Lafayette,
Detroit, MI 48226, or fax them to (313) 222-6417 or send messages to
letters@detnews.com
