A Columbus-area advisory committee has recommended eliminating the Greater Columbus Arts Council’s share of hotel/motel tax revenue and redirecting the money to Experience Columbus, the city’s convention and visitors bureau. The Funding Review Advisory Committee (FRAC), a joint effort of the City of Columbus and Franklin County, released its report on March 12, 2026, following a year of stakeholder meetings focused on sustaining local arts, tourism, and human services organizations amid cuts to federal and state funding.

Under the current structure, the Greater Columbus Arts Council (GCAC) receives 29 percent of the hotel/motel tax and Experience Columbus receives 43 percent. The FRAC report recommends shifting GCAC’s allocation to 0 percent and increasing Experience Columbus’s share to 72 percent. In 2024, GCAC had annual revenues of $28.6 million, of which nearly $8.5 million came from the hotel tax — roughly 30 percent of its total budget. GCAC provides grants to artists, arts organizations, and programs including the annual Columbus Arts Festival. Experience Columbus, which has run a budget deficit for three consecutive years, says it needs an additional $15 million annually, 80 percent of which would support marketing to attract conventions and visitors.

The report recommends that the hotel tax shift happen only after Franklin County establishes a separate cigarette tax to replace GCAC’s lost revenue. A 30-cent-per-pack county tax could generate an estimated $20 million annually for GCAC by 2030, though implementing such a tax would require a public ballot measure. FRAC Chair Sandy Doyle-Ahern emphasized the sequencing: “The key to the committee’s recommendation regarding the arts is to shift GCAC’s share of the hotel/motel tax to Experience Columbus after the county establishes the cigarette tax, not before.” GCAC Chief Creative Officer Jami Goldstein said in a statement that Columbus’s arts funding model “is a nationally recognized success — it has created stability, growth, and measurable economic impact for artists and organizations and it must be protected.”

Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin said a proposal to defund the arts “would be dead on arrival at City Council,” but indicated the council would review the FRAC recommendations thoughtfully. Mayor Andrew Ginther said no decisions have been made and described the recommendations as advisory. Any changes to the hotel tax allocation would require approval from Columbus City Council.

Source: Columbus Underground