CEDAR CITY – Twenty Cedar City organizations will soon be spending their newly awarded RAP tax money on community programs and projects intended to improve the quality of life for community members and visitors alike.
The Cedar City RAP tax is a 1/10th of 1 percent sales tax that is drawn from purchases made within city limits. RAP tax funds are used to improve and maintain recreational, artistic and park opportunities within the community for residents to enjoy and to attract potential tourists.
The RAP tax funds are split into three segments: 10 percent of the overall fund is allocated specifically to the preservation and restoration of city-owned and operated facilities that were created with RAP tax funding; two-thirds of the remaining funds are allocated to parks and recreation, and one-third is allocated to community arts.
Arts Advisory Board Chair Joanne Brattain and Parks and Recreation Advisory Board member Mari Blazzard presented their recommendations for funding allocations to the City Council in an Aug. 19 meeting. The funding was voted on and passed as recommended with no alteration in an Aug. 26 City Council meeting.
Fiscal year 2015-2016 arts RAP tax awardees and amounts awarded are:
- Cedar City Corporation – Library | $1,959
- Cedar City Children’s Musical Theater | $8,000
- Cedar City Arts Council | $7,000
- Cedar City Junior Ballet | $8,500
- Cedar City Music Arts | $12,000
- Cedar City Livestock and Heritage Festival | $9,500
- Cedar Valley Community Theater | $8,000
- In Jubilo | $2,000
- Master Singers | $3,000
- Orchestra of Southern Utah | $11,000
- Southern Utah Museum of Art | $3,500
- Suzuki Strings | $1,200
- Utah Shakespeare Festival | $50,000
- Utah Theatre Festival Corporation – Neil Simon Festival | $20,000
- Southern Utah Space Foundation | $0
Fiscal year 2015-2016 parks and recreation RAP tax awardees are:
- Cedar City Corporation
- Aquatic Center | $24,000
- Parks | $130,000
- Sports and Recreation | $3,117
- Cedar Ridge Golf Course | $81,289
- Cross Hollow | $14,000
- Frontier Homestead State Park Museum | $20,000
- Southwest Wildlife Foundation | $0
- Trails Committee | $50,000
- Youth & Enthusiasts Together for Ice (YETI) | $1,280
Members of the Arts Advisory Board chose not to fund the Southern Utah Space Foundation because the organization is too new, Brattain said. If anything happened to the group, she said, the board was concerned that the telescope they were attempting to purchase with the funds would have no home to allow community access to it.
The Southwest Wildlife Foundation, which was seeking funds to help with building a restroom on its property along the Cedar Walking Trail near the second bridge in Cedar Canyon, was denied because of maintenance questions, Blazzard said.
It was a concern of Parks and Recreation Advisory Board members that the nonprofit organization would not have regular maintenance available to the new restroom facility after it was built, Blazzard said, and because it resides on private property, the city would not be able to help facilitate that need.
Related posts
- City Council discusses RAP tax funding, Windmill Plaza plat finalization
- RAP tax budget proposal passes 3-2 despite arts community protests
- Council struggles with RAP tax decisions, discusses conservation and health care
- Cedar City Council reevaluates RAP tax funded program’s needs
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