Thursday, December 10, 1998

City officials consider taxing artists, musicians

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Last modified at 3:11 p.m. on Thursday, December 10, 1998

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By PAYSHA STOCKTON
THE JUNEAU EMPIRE

Teri Tibbett hasn't had a pay raise for more than two decades.

Twenty-two years ago, the musician started playing the Red Dog Saloon for $100 per night. At one point, the Alaskan Hotel kicked her up to $125 per performance. But now she's back down to $100.

``It's seasonal, it's temporary, it's short-lived and it's low-pay,'' Tibbett said, adding most Juneau performers supplement their income with more stable employment. ``Being a professional musician in this town doesn't pay.''

Now, the city wants its cut too.

Tibbett's name is just one on a list of more than 150 individual performers, bands and artists city officials have pinpointed as being out of compliance with sales tax regulations.

The list, compiled by the city Finance Department, includes church accompanists, actors and actresses, children's performers, square dance callers and opera singers. It also includes out-of-town performers who have played Juneau once.

Performers sell a service and should pay taxes, city Finance Director Craig Duncan told the Juneau Assembly Finance Committee at a Wednesday meeting.

Duncan said the tax collection should not be retroactive, though many performers have been out of compliance for years.

``In many cases they operate very casually,'' he said. ``We have identified a number of people who do this part time.''

If the sales tax was pursued, performers would be expected to pay 4 percent of every performance fee to the city. Ideally, a musician receiving $100 from a bar would instead charge $104 and save $4 for the city.

Several assembly members were skeptical about the benefits of mounting an aggressive campaign to collect taxes from a group with small - and difficult to document - earnings.

``I'd like to know what kind of money we're talking about,'' said assembly member John MacKinnon. ``It seems to be a nuisance, if it's such a small amount.''

Duncan said he doesn't know how much revenue taxing performers would bring in. The Finance Department will poll performers and artists on their incomes, and estimate the cost of administering the tax. When the true costs are known, the information will come back to the Finance Committee, which will decide what action to take.

``The code says we should do it,'' said Deputy City Manager Donna Pierce. ``So we'll try to do it unless the assembly says we should change the code.''

Tibbett said it would be good to exempt performers from sales tax. While bar owners and promoters should pay the tax, the money will come from musicians.

``The way (the bars) treat us already is `we don't need you,'°'' Tibbett said. Owners won't pay extra for tax.

Murray Damitio, manager of Hangar on the Wharf, agreed. The Hangar generally pays each musician about $100 per night, depending on the performer, he said.

``We lose money on the music. There's no doubt about it,'' he said. ``I think what's ultimately going to happen is the musicians are just going to end up being paid less.''

Several assembly members argued the letter of the law is the issue. ``I think in the future we should try to get tax out of this group,'' said Cathy Munoz.

Others said an exemption might save trouble, allowing pursuit of more serious offenders.

``I would maybe support an exemption for casual entertainers, rather than full time,'' MacKinnon said.

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