Nineteen non-profit organizations operating in Summit County will receive tax money this year to provide cultural opportunities in the Park City area.
The awards approved this week by Interim Summit County Manager Brian Bellamy totaled nearly $580,000.
The Recreation, Arts and Parks Tax Cultural Advisory Committee recommended that Mountain Town Music receive the most from RAP Tax in 2009. The group, which promotes live music in the Park City area, will receive $60,000.
Rounding out this year’s five largest recipients of RAP Tax were the organizers of the Sundance Film Festival, Kimball Art Center, Park City Performing Arts Foundation and the Egyptian Theatre.
Bellamy said he reduced a grant the committee recommended for organizers of the Park Silly Sunday Market, by $3,714, because the street fair on Main Street doesn’t fully achieve the goal of promoting cultural events for Summit County residents.
“Their whole purpose is not for culture,” Bellamy said.
Bellamy said he also deducted $5,481 from an award for KPCW-FM because grant money the radio station received from Summit County in 2008 was misappropriated.
Station officials did not provide the county with results from a survey they were asked to conduct, Bellamy said.
“They spent their money elsewhere,” Bellamy said.
The Echo Community and Historical Organization, which received $600, was the only group on the East Side of Summit County that was funded from RAP Tax.
Bellamy said several groups will not receive their payments for 2009 until they properly report how their grants in 2007 were spent. Groups that have not completely reported how they used the funds include: Arts-Kids, Egyptian Theatre, Kimball Art Center, Park City Chamber Music Society, Park City Jazz Foundation, Park City Performing Arts Foundation, Park City Singers, Sundance Institute, Swaner EcoCenter and Utah Symphony and Opera.
RAP Tax is earmarked each year for non-profit groups promoting cultural events in Summit County. In 2008, about $729,000 was doled out to area nonprofits.
The recipients of RAP Tax grants in 2009 include:
Arts-Kids — $15,200
Echo Community and Historical Organization — $600
Egyptian Theatre — $50,700
KPCW — $12,386
Kimball Art Center — $54,000
Mountain Town Stages — $60,000
Norwegian Outdoor Exploration Center — $33,000
Park City Chamber Music Society — $14,200
Park City Film Series — $23,000
Park City Historical Society and Museum — $38,000
Park City Jazz Foundation — $44,000
Park City Performing Arts Foundation — $53,700
Park City/Summit County Arts Council — $43,000
Sundance Institute — $57,000
Park City Singers — $2,300
Swaner EcoCenter — $12,300
Utah Symphony and Opera — $39,000
Park Silly Sunday Market — $8,000
Alf Engen Ski Museum Foundation — $19,400