LOS ANGELES—In light of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's recently revealed $900,000 contribution to a campaign to increase the L.A. sales tax, the county Board of Supervisors is questioning whether the museum really needs $6 million in funding it has requested, reports the Bay Area Contra Costa Times.

The donation was the largest to the Measure R campaign, which narrowly passed on election day and increases the sales tax in L.A. county by half a percent. The hike will raise $30 to $40 billion over 30 years for transportation projects including a $4.2 billion subway that would service the museum.

County officials believed the donation was inappropriate. "If they have nearly $1 million to spend on campaigns, then they obviously don't need additional funds to operate their facility," said county CEO Bill Fujioka, whom the board has directed to look into the matter. "Their function is to provide a service to the community, providing the best art museum we have and using their resources to enhance the opportunities for all of our young and old to have an opportunity to see the wonderful pieces of art we have in our collection."

"It's reprehensible that they would use nearly $1 million to engage in a campaign to increase taxes that does not enhance the museum's art collection," said County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.

LACMA, however, argues that Museum Associates, the charitable organization that operates the museum, is eligible to make such donations, and that it was acting in the best interest of the museum.

"Like all major cultural institutions in Los Angeles, LACMA is dependent on an efficient transportation system to deliver visitors to its door," said LACMA spokeswoman Barbara Pflaumer. "We felt supporting the campaign for Measure R was a very cost-efficient way of ensuring increased visitorship in the future."