Every person who makes a $10 purchase in the seven-county Denver metro area pays a one-cent tax for the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD). In 1988, Denver asked its citizens to vote to tax themselves in support of arts, culture and science. Voters said “yes” in overwhelming numbers, and affirmed that vote in 1994 and again in 2004.
In 2013, the SCFD collected over $46 million for distribution to organizations that “support cultural facilities whose primary purpose is to enlighten and entertain the public through the production, presentation, exhibition, advancement and preservation of art, music, theatre, dance, zoology, botany, natural history and cultural history.”
The funds help support the programming of some 300 organizations with a combined audience of 13.7 million. The five largest organizations receiving SCFD funds are the Denver Art Museum, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and the Denver Zoo. These Tier I institutions receive 65.5 percent of the total funding.
The 21 Tier II groups, which include organizations like the Clyfford Still Museum, Colorado Symphony and Opera Colorado, receive 21 percent, leaving just 13.5 percent of the SCFD’s tax haul for the 274 Tier III nonprofits with budgets under $1 million.
When SCFD began in 1989, the metro area and its demographics were very different from what they are today. The present model of SCFD still assumes that the hub of the arts and cultural environment is downtown Denver. This is simply no longer the case. As the population has grown in the other counties — Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Jefferson and Douglas — so have the number of organizations that receive SCFD funds. Brighton, Evergreen, Nederland, Louisville and Parker now have vibrant cultural scenes. These smaller organizations currently attract 33 percent of the total SCFD attendance, yet receive only 13.5 percent of the total funding. Roughly 75 percent of the tax revenues come from the counties outside of Denver, yet over 75 percent of the money is allocated to Denver organizations.
The Tier III organizations are at the heart of communities throughout the metro area. These are the groups that teach thousands of hours of theater, dance, music and science in schools. Many offer affordable after-school programs and summer camps that engage underserved children and youth. Tier IIIs welcome individuals to perform in their local theaters, dance companies, choral ensembles and instrumental music groups. The Tier III organizations are not getting the money commensurate to their contributions and the impact in their communities.
In 2016, voters will be asked to reauthorize the SCFD for another 12 years, and even the gloomiest pollsters expect it to pass by a healthy margin. We’re looking at half a billion dollars over the next decade, which makes the SCFD the largest funding source for the scientific, arts and cultural endeavors in the United States.
I am thrilled to live in a community that supports its major institutions so that everyone — not just the wealthy — can enjoy them. I love the free days offered by the Tier I organizations that allow low-income families to take their kids to the zoo or the art museum. I think it’s great that the Tier II organizations, such as the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory and the Colorado Ballet, receive the public support they need. But we also have to recognize that the Tier III organizations, which generate more than one-third of the SCFD’s attendance figures, need to see their popularity with local audiences reflected in greater equity.
The SCFD is asking for public input. If you would like to comment, please e-mail the SCFD board at PublicComment@ . You can also let Cast 3 know on its comment section at .
Richard Male (rich@richardmale.com) is a consultant to the Cast 3 Collaborative.
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