An expansion and renewal of Cuyahoga County’s cigarette tax is still slated for the November ballot. The board of Cuyahoga Arts and Culture heard that the process is “on track” at its annual meeting Wednesday afternoon.
CAC Executive Director Jill Paulsen said getting the issue to the ballot starts with a recommendation of the amount and timing to county council. For the last renewal, in 2015, the proposal came in mid-spring.
“I do anticipate we’ll have a special meeting in the coming weeks or months to really move that forward,” she said. “All of these campaigns… have a public ramp-up period that usually happens in the months before the election. So, we’re still on track.”
Jeff Rusnak, CEO of political strategy firm R Strategy Group, has spoken about the levy campaign at several CAC meetings in the past year. He also said the process is “on track,” with a deadline of early August.
“But we’re not going to cut it that close,” he said.
Currently, Rusnak’s team is researching what sort of ask to bring to voters in the fall. The cigarette tax is set to expire in 2027. Last year, the board approved $10.75 million in grants to arts nonprofits, including Ideastream Public Media.
CAC is responsible for distributing public funding for the arts – more than $246 million since 2007. The agency was formed to distribute the proceeds from a 30-cents-per-pack cigarette tax. Revenue has steadily declined since then by more than 50%. So far in 2024, year-over-year revenue is off by nearly 24%.
Shuffling board membership
CAC's board membership also saw some big changes at Wednesday’s meeting.
Leonard DiCosimo, president of the Cleveland Federation of Musicians Local 4, was sworn in an open seat after being officially approved by county council last week. The board also elected him secretary. The former secretary, Karolyn Isenhart, was appointed to another term and is now replacing CAC Board Chair Nancy Mendez. She's stepping down to join the board of MetroHealth. Daniel Blakemore was elected vice president.
Former Playhouse Square CEO Gina Vernaci is expected to be considered by county council this summer for the remaining open seat.
The board on Wednesday also approved application guidelines for CAC's 2025 Project Support grant program. The grants range from about $1,000-20,000. The process will have no major changes this year and applications open on May 2. CAC has been conducting a grantee survey about how the process works.
