Davis arts may get boost

FARMINGTON — Davis County's arts community got a boost last week when mayors and representatives of 15 cities agreed to give local arts groups 45 percent of a proposed sales tax increase.

The mayors took two hours and several motions Thursday to arrive at agreement on how to split proceeds from a recreation, arts and parks tax, they have asked the Davis County Commission to put on November's ballot. The so-called RAP tax would increase the sales tax by one-tenth of 1 percent and raise an estimated $3.2 million annually.

Fifty-five percent of the money raised will go to the cities, based on population, for city or combined local projects such as the proposed South Davis Regional Recreation Center. The $21 recreation million project would replace Bountiful's swimming pool and other outdoor facilities and feature a larger pool, ice rink, baseball diamonds and other amenities open to residents in the six cities from Farmington to North Salt Lake.

Bountiful Mayor Joe Johnson, who ran the meeting, told the mayors they needed to reach agreement on how the money would be spent and how much would be spent on the arts or the County Commission wouldn't put the increased sales tax question on the ballot.

County Commission Chairman Dannie McConkie responded earlier this month to a letter from the mayors asking that the issue be put on the ballot by saying the commission wouldn't react favorably unless the mayors were in agreement on how the money would be spent and if they developed a plan to sell the tax increase to the voters.

County commissioners could not be reached for comment.

Mike Bouwhuis, chairman of the Cultural Arts Alliance, a county-appointed task force that examined the issues facing county arts groups, told the mayors the 45 percent split wasn't as much as the arts groups had wanted, but, "We can live with it."

Bouwhuis and his group agreed to return to the next meeting of the mayors to discuss how a nonprofit corporation could manage the funding for the 43 arts organizations in the county. He suggested that the mayors ask county commissioners to set up a nonprofit 501(c)3 corporation and a foundation to manage the money.

Early in the meeting North Salt Lake Mayor Kay Briggs brought up the issue of who would manage the arts money and suggested that without proper accountability, the money could end up being used in a way the mayors might not approve.

Under current state law, only the County Commission can put a RAP tax on the ballot. If the commission decides not to put the issue to the voters, there is nothing the mayors can do about it. However, Rep. Sheryl Allen, R-Bountiful, is sponsoring a bill (HB64) in the Legislature that would allow cities in second-class counties, such as Davis, to vote on the tax even if the commission won't put it on the ballot. Johnson called Allen's bill a backup measure.

Should the tax increase be approved by voters in November, it would begin in April 2005.

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