The restaurant, arts and parks tax, or RAP tax, is a one-tenth of a cent sales tax on certain goods in Summit County. Voters approved the tax in 2000 and renewed it every decade since.
There are two different RAP tax grants, one for cultural and the other for recreation organizations. The Summit County Council distributed the cultural grant May 22.
The council voted unanimously to award $1.57 million to 25 organizations, with most receiving the bulk of what they requested.
In all, 26 organizations submitted requests for $2 million in funding, but the available funding varies year to year.
“We always go into this and let every applicant know that nothing's promised,” grant committee chair Sharon Hanson told councilmembers May 22. “And of course, it depends on how much money we have to distribute. I think this year it just worked out that way.”
Cultural RAP Tax Grant applications are graded based on how they contribute to Summit County’s artistic or cultural vibrancy, how they benefit the public and whether the organization has the capacity to responsibly use and report the use of its award.
A grant committee makes the first review of applications and forwards its recommendations to the council for a final decision. The county council accepted 2024's recommendations without edits.
The only unfunded organization was The Grassroots Shakespeare Company—the committee expressed concern the Utah acting troupe wouldn’t be able to accurately track and support how it spent the money in Summit County.
The Sundance Institute missed the grant application deadline this year during a change in leadership, which threatened funding for free local screenings and education. The county council decided to give Sundance $130,000 from its “county-sponsored projects” fund early this month instead.
KPCW received the most cultural RAP tax money at $145,000, up $3,000 from a year ago.
Ten other organizations received $100,000 or more, including the Egyptian Theatre at $140,000; the Kimball Art Center at $135,000; Park City Film at $130,000; and the Arts Council of Park City & Summit County at $120,000.
The upcoming Latino Arts Festival was awarded all $30,000 it requested, the only fully-funded organization.
After renewing its contract with Park City Municipal for another four years last October, the Park Silly Sunday Market received $50,000 this grant cycle.
