Small and midsize arts organizations would in their share of public art funds under a proposal made by a task force for the .
The task force recommendations, unveiled Thursday, are the starting point for legislation that will go before voters in 2016, when the SCFD comes up for another 10-year authorization. The agency uses sales tax revenues to channel cash to 297 arts groups in the seven-county Denver metro region.
Currently, the five largest arts groups, known as Tier I, get 65 percent of the money. About 21 percent goes to the 27 groups in Tier II with the remainder going to smaller Tier III groups.
Under the proposal, Tier I would get 60 percent, Tier II would get 24 percent and Tier III would get 16 percent.
The numbers can be confusing, but they add up to millions more for the smaller groups. Projections would have them splitting an additional $2.5 million in the first year of the new authorization, with the numbers increasing into the tens of millions over the decade.
The task force also recommended stricter eligibility requirements for new groups seeking money, raising the “years of existence” minimum from five to seven years for Tier II and three to five years for Tier III.
Another recommendation from the task force is to allow groups in Tier II to count unpaid attendance as a factor in requesting money. Currently, they are awarded money based on a formula that measures the size of their budgets against paid attendance. The move is an incentive for the groups to offer more free programming.
The final major recommendation was within Tier I itself. One of the five groups, the , currently the lowest-funded organization, would get an increase in its percentage of funds. The , Denver Center for the Performing Arts and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science would get small decreases while the remain at its current level.
In its first year, 1989, the district awarded $13.8 million to 170 organizations. In 2013, its gave $47.3 million to 280 organizations, according to its most recent annual report.
The task force made no recommendation to raise or lower the one-tenth of 1 percent sales tax rate, or 1 cent on every $10.
The SCFD’s board plans to finalize language for the reauthorization measure by the end of June.
Ray Mark Rinaldi: 303-954-1540, rrinaldi@denverpost.com or twitter.com/rayrinaldi
