The Helena City Commission is asking the city attorney whether the municipality has the authority to assess a commercial construction fee to fund public art. The proposed draft ordinance would affect construction or alteration of nonresidential buildings of 20,000 square feet or more in Helena, Mont.
The proposal by Commissioner Katherine Haque-Hausrath calls for a fee of at least 1 percent of the construction cost to be paid toward the city's public art fund. For any project where the fee is $25,000 or greater the developer could choose to pay the fee or have public art placed on the site.
