On Sunday, June 10, Bay Area singer songwriter Melody Walker held a free show at the Backstage Lounge in Santa Cruz. The catch? She hadn’t intended the show to be free. After what she calls a strange “shakedown” voicemail from the city asking for a pre-show deposit on the estimated total admission sales, Walker investigated. She didn’t like what she found out and opted to play for free rather than give a cut to the gov.
On Sunday, June 10, Bay Area singer songwriter Melody Walker held a free show at the Backstage Lounge in Santa Cruz. The catch? She hadn’t intended the show to be free. After what she calls a strange “shakedown” voicemail from the city asking for a pre-show deposit on the estimated total admission sales, Walker investigated. She didn’t like what she found out and opted to play for free rather than give a cut to the gov.
According to the city finance department’s web site, the admission tax has been on the books since October of 1986 and is applicable to “races, dances, concerts, picnics, entertainment events, sports, lectures, films, etc.” Currently 66 municipalities nationwide levy an admission tax of somewhere between 1.5 percent and 5.5 percent, with the average being 3 percent, according to a report on admissions tax performed by the Ohio state government. In California, admissions are exempt from sales tax, so the admissions tax fills that void. Operators of stadiums in San Francisco are subject to a tax of either 50 cents or $2.25 per ticket. Santa Cruz’s admission tax is 5 percent on all ticket sales for events.
Walker says she’s been playing shows in Santa Cruz for a decade but has never heard of the admission tax before. She speculates that generally the venues cover it, but since her show on Sunday was at the Rio Theatre–affiliated Backstage Lounge—a space artists can rent to promote and host their own shows without giving the Rio a cut—this was the first time she was “on the city’s radar.”
Upon hearing from a receptionist at the city’s finance department that her show would be subject to the tax even if it was ostensibly a donation-only show, Walker rebelled by making the show free and promoting it on Facebook as such. Santa Cruz Director of Finance Marc Pimentel did not return messages from Santa Cruz Weekly.
“We know that Santa Cruz loves the arts,” Walker said. “I have faith that we’ll be supported in some way. I have faith in Santa Cruz. I’m just not sure I have faith in Santa Cruz city government at this point.”
