At City Hall: arts funding results are in...

There has been no shortage of conversation about Toronto's municipal politics in the past few months, but it isn't often that arts and culture policy are a big part of that.

So here's our contribution:

At the end of January, Toronto City Council passed the 2014 budget (you can read about it here, here, and many other places). The 2014 Budget includes some important changes that impact the arts community and its supporters:

• $4.5 million in new funding has been added to the 2014 budget lines for arts and culture
• this money is in addition to the $6 million increase we saw in the 2013 budget - in total, $10.5 million has been added to the municipal arts budget since 2012
• Council has begun to phase the Billboard Tax out of the arts and culture lines, opting instead to fund arts and culture through the property tax base (which, in theory, is more stable and less vulnerable to cuts)
• the target timeline to reach $25 per capita has been extended to a five-year plan, rather than the four-year plan they were working toward last year

(you can read how the motion breaks down here)

The kids at Lakeshore Arts showing their support for
Arts Day at the City 2013

Overall this budget is a positive step forward - and one that is made possible because of your participation in the process. Please keep it up:

• write to your Councillor about the 2014 budget
• invite Councillors to your performances / events - show them the impact of this funding
• VOTE VOTE VOTE in the next municipal election

The 2014 municipal election is on October 27, 2014. It'll be a big one for the arts community - and for our city. Volcano is an active supporter of ArtsVote: we hope you'll get involved too, and help us champion the fine artists of our city. Email ArtsVote for more details on how you can get involved.