'No' on south Davis RAP tax
There are no comments for this page [ Add Comment ]Tuesday, October 30, 2007
If voters in Bountiful, Centerville, Woods Cross and West Bountiful are looking for a reason to vote against the proposed RAP tax, they might start with the measure's name: RAP stands for recreation, arts and parks, but the election is really just about the arts.
Now, local leaders who are supporting approval of the RAP tax -- a 10th of a cent on every sales-tax dollar -- don't make any bones about that fact. This tax is aimed at building a performing arts center in Centerville. If any money goes to recreation and parks, it won't be much.
We're fans of the arts. We think the impulse here, to provide a new and improved facility for the successful and well-established Rodgers Memorial Theater, is a good one. But this proposal has a couple of gaping holes in it, and that's why we urge the residents of those four south Davis cities to vote against the RAP tax.
While we see nothing wrong with the South Davis County Cultural Arts Association and its four municipal partners banding together to support the proposed 650-seat venue, which will also include a 150-seat "black box" theater, we think their plan is faulty. They have requested a portion of the county's tourism-tax revenue, but that money is presently -- and for the foreseeable future -- going to fund the Davis Conference Center, the fairgrounds in Farmington and the county's Convention and Visitor's Bureau.
Furthermore, we view the lack of involvement by other south Davis cities (North Salt Lake and Farmington) as a deficiency. It's possible, we think, that the four cities have forgotten that a countywide cultural facilities master plan was undertaken early in the decade to judge what was needed and attainable for all the county's communities. Significant time and research went into that study; have the South Davis County Cultural Arts Association and its four municipal partners proceeded according to that guideline?
Perhaps most obvious, though, is that we haven't heard a word about there being a detailed application plan for distributing RAP funds to deserving recreation or parks projects. By comparison, when Weber County pursued its recreation, arts, museums and parks (RAMP) tax, it was countywide and, most importantly, prior to the election there was a specific methodology in place for review of funding applications. County voters knew just what to expect -- their tax dollars would be going to recreation, arts, museums and parks.
The four south Davis cities have not approached the RAP tax proposal with equal care. This is mystifying, especially when a countywide RAP tax proposal in 2004 face-planted with voters. That effort relied on a "trust us" sales pitch. True, at least this RAP proposal has a defined goal -- the performing arts center -- but it still lacks the aforementioned particulars needed to buoy voter confidence.
Voters should demand more accountability and due diligence for their hard-earned tax dollars.
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