Some 20 years ago I started writing about the hidden downside of Richmond’s admissions tax in SLANT, a hyper-local magazine I published (1985-94) at the time. I’ve seen firsthand how much that tax has had to do with closing down some theaters and clubs. Since then I’ve ranted against that show biz-stifling tax several times, in various publications.

The list now includes the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The problem with the admissions tax is not so much that consumers object to paying it. It’s that promoters don’t want to bring their shows here. And, for a small club, having to pay 7 percent of what comes in at the door, when the band of local musicians usually gets that money, takes a nasty bite out of profits. Consequently, there are fewer clubs and fewer gigs. Fewer gigs mean more area musicians have to keep a day job, or they just leave town.

Click here to read the entire piece in Sunday’s RT-D.

By the way, some of us believe that if the admissions tax didn’t exist the City would do so well from the increase in the number of attractions and venues that would mushroom up downtown, it wouldn’t have to worry for very long about replacing the revenue the City nets from taxing tickets. But thinking like that takes vision … not something we have in abundance on City Council.

Call or send an email to your representative on City Council. Please ask them to stop taxing tickets, ASAP.