The figures are in for attendance at the 2013 Jazz and
Heritage Festival. The good news is the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage
Foundation reported an attendance figure of approximately 425,000.
The bad news is the state just ‘kissed off’ over 1.1 million
dollars in revenue from ticket sales alone that could be used to help offset
cuts in health care and educational services in our state. Thanks to the
Jindal administration and our state legislators this organization is exempt
from the state sales tax and and consequently charges NO tax on ticket sales.
The Jazz and Heritage Foundation defends this policy by
stating that they are trying to keep the ticket prices, this year, $65.00, as
low as possible for their fans. However, no one is suggesting that they
pass this sale’s tax cost on to the consumer, and they seem to have no problems
with the inflated Ticket Master surcharge. How many other ‘sacred cows’
exist with such lucrative exemptions? Time to get the priorities straight
in Louisiana.
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