"Hopefully . . . this is an opportunity to begin a cultural arts district . . . to create sort of synergy for cultural arts," said Louise Wallace, city staff liaison to the advisory commission. "The commission does feel strongly that SCERA should be preserved because of its historical value and its architecture. We hope that the facility can be preserved and become the cornerstone of this performing arts district."

But one worry is that if all the money is poured into a building, there will be no funds left over for programs to perform in the building.

"Building the facility is only the first step," said City Manager Jim Reams. "There's a lot of steps after that."

Some think that any steps in the direction of higher taxes are a bad idea.

"Obviously a tax increase is bad enough in the state that has one of the highest state and local fee burdens in the United States," said Mike Jerman, vice president of the Utah Tax Payers Association, which consists mostly of small business owners. "And the issue of earmarking general revenue for specific purposes is a dangerous precedent."

Jerman said the association is against any type of tax increases in the state, but especially ones that are planned for specific purposes, such as recreation or the arts.

"The tax burden already is very high and as tax payers in Utah we face very critical needs in education and transportation, which are more critical than arts funding," he said. "The arts are nice . . . but nobody would argue that they're as critical as education, transportation and public safety." He said a better option, though not a good option, would be to increase property taxes and have the money flow into the general fund, then be allocated out from there.

The question right now isn't where the money will be going, the question is whether there will be any money at all. Orem officials are reluctant to move forward with any planning until the county commissioners act and the city knows whether the RAP tax will be an election issue.

"If there is no funding available, then there is not a need to do intense feasibility studies, (if) we don't have the money to build anyway," said Mayor Jerry Washburn. "If the citizens feel like there is a need for supporting the cultural arts, then we have a measured way of prioritizing how those dollars are spent."

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