Our local paper had an article about this, and while it's usually only good for kindling, they made good points.
You might be surprised how many well-meaning artists want to "donate" art to municipalities. However, there are unseen costs for the taxpayer.
First, who pays for installation? If it's on public property they may not let starving artist install it.
Second, who maintains it, esp in the case of vandalism, which is nearly guaranteed? If it gets tagged or damaged, do you just leave it as-is? Unlikely. Does it need to be periodically dusted, cleaned, repainted??
Third, municipalities almost always carry insurance on these things. Maybe liability, maybe against damage, maybe all the above.
At the end of the day I'd rather see the money go to just maintaining a nice park or fixing streets or sidewalks.