On Monday, the city council voted 8-1 to agree to (maybe) take another vote on whether the city should exempt small live music venues from the city's admissions tax. And who says politics aren't accessible?

The city currently charges a five percent tax on each ticket sold. Under the council's current exemption plan, clubs would have to have a capacity smaller than 1,000, put on shows at least 3 days a week with a minimum of 16 performers to be exempt from the tax. About 50 clubs in the city would be eligible for the admission tax exemption. The Mayor's office has been pushing for the tax break since September.

Council members Tim Burgess and Sally Clark are apparently behind the new push for a repeal of the tax, which will cost the city about $450,000 in revenue over the next year and a half. Staff is Burgess's office say he's a fan of live music and recently saw the Cocoa Martini Jazz septet at Local Color in the Pike Place Market. Clark says the last show she attended was the substantially cooler pre-opening party at the Crocodile.

Local clubs, like every business, have not been immune to the economic recession. "I think anything helps in this day and age," says Nightlife Music Association President and Havana/Saint co-owner Quentin Ertel. "Is it going to keep the doors open for clubs that would otherwise go out of business? Probably not, but it is going to et a very pro-music tone for the city and that can’t be a bad thing."

While the exemptions might not save clubs on the brink of closure, still-afloat club owners could end up passing on some of the money they'll be saving to performers. "At Havana, we collect our admissions tax for the performers," Ertel says. "If the city’s not going to charge us that admissions tax, I’m not going to charge them either."

The exemption proposal will head to the council's budget committee and the city could start offering exemptions as early as July 1st.