A Look at Portland Arts Funding

A resident of Portland, Oregon, Sam Adams possesses more than two decades of experience as a public servant. During his three-year tenure as mayor of Portland, Sam Adams played a key role in the passage of the city’s groundbreaking Arts Education and Access Income Tax (also known as the Arts Tax).
Portland voters passed the Arts Tax into law in November 2012 as a way to provide better opportunities for arts education to K-5 students in six local school districts. The tax, which requires residents over the age of 18 to pay $35 during each tax year, gives these districts the means to hire teachers that specialize in both music and arts education.
Since its inception, the Arts Tax has made it possible for more than 30,000 of Portland’s students to continue their arts education. Not only did the tax enable school districts to increase their arts staff nearly three-fold (from 31 to 91 teachers), but it also increased the city’s per-capita arts funding by just under $3.
The Portland Arts Tax also has helped fund countless nonprofit arts initiatives and organizations over the years. For instance, the Portland Art Museum has been able to grow its programming for different groups, including veterans and those with disabilities. The local Hollywood Theatre has used funding from the Portland Arts Tax to bring filmmaking education to students from underserved communities.
