Jersey City Votes in Favor of Tax to Help the Arts

Voters in Jersey City have voted in favor of a tax to help the arts, The New York Times reports.

64 percent of the voters there supported the tax in a nonbinding referendum that now just seeks final approval from the City Council.

"It shows that the arts are important to people even in the toughest of times," said Robinson Holloway, a former chair of the Jersey City Arts Council.

The tax will help to produce a reliable revenue stream to help the arts industry across the city. Jersey City is the first municipality in the state to establish a tax to benefit the arts.

The new tax will not cure all of the issues the arts industry is currently facing. It is currently expected to generate between $1 and 2 million a year, which will be distributed to select organizations or individuals through an application process.

Read more on The New York Times.