The Red, White and Blue Festival is the day of events, music and activities, mostly at the Heber City Park, on the Fourth of July.
At a county council meeting April 16, the TAP grant committee said it did not recommend giving money to the project because the application was not specific about how the event enhanced the community’s trails, arts or parks.
“The board felt that there was not a specific trail, park or art request in their application,” committee chair Alese Overly said. “We received a budget request of $100,000 with no connection to a specific – they didn’t ask to fund specific things.”
She and other committee members said specificity is important, so the TAP grants are transparent and accountable to taxpayers.
Councilmember Colleen Bonner said she would have preferred to give TAP money to the Red, White and Blue Festival since organizers are trying to expand the event.
“Next year is the 250th anniversary of our country, and I know they want to do a really big deal for that,” she said. “So they’d like to have had the opportunity this year to kind of get things started.”
Councilmember Mark Nelson said he wanted the council to approve funding for nearly two dozen other recommended projects, but he also requested that the TAP committee revisit the Red, White and Blue Festival application.
In May, after a review by the committee and some councilmembers, the county awarded the festival about $60,000.
Now, the county council is considering changes to the TAP guidelines that would give councilmembers more of a say in how the money is spent.
The new rules would require presentations as part of the application process for anyone requesting a grant of $75,000 or more. At least one representative from the county council would attend.
County Manager Dustin Grabau said Tuesday the council is interested in “extra scrutiny” for projects above a certain amount.
“We’re bringing down the dollar amounts of the large grants and increasing the criteria there – including the council in part of the evaluation of those larger grants,” he said.
This spring’s grants were the second cycle of Wasatch County TAP awards.
The Wasatch County Council meets at 4 p.m. Wednesday, July 2. For an agenda and a link to attend online, visit the county website.
