On that same election day, voters in Davis and Weber counties, who have seen the recreation centers, parks and stronger arts programs that ZAP has built in Salt Lake County, have an opportunity to provide themselves similar benefits. They should seize it.
In Davis County, the tax is called RAP (Recreation, Arts and Parks). In Weber County, it is RAMP (Recreation, Arts, Museums and Parks).
Not to be left behind, Tooele City is proposing PAR (Parks, Arts and Recreation).
The alphabet soup is not important. What matters is that these small sales-tax levies, all of which are one-tenth of 1 percent, do a lot to increase community opportunities for recreation, music, theater, museums and dance.
The granddaddy of these taxes is ZAP, which stands for Zoo, Arts and Parks. Salt Lake County voters approved it in 1996 for 10 years. It generates about $15 million a year. Shortly after the tax was passed, the county government used about a third of the revenue to pay for bonds that built a dozen recreation facilities around the valley that have been enormously popular with adults and children who like to swim, play basketball, skate, ride horses or work up a sweat on an exercise machine. Park and trail development, Wheeler Historic Farm and This Is the Place State Park also benefited.
The tax also helps to support Hogle Zoo, Red Butte Garden and Tracy Aviary.
It provides critical funding for performing arts groups and museums large and small. Among the 25 major recipients are the Utah Symphony and Opera, Ballet West, Pioneer Theatre Co., the Grand and Hale Center theaters and the Utah Museums of Fine Arts and Natural History.
The tax also provides funding for dozens of smaller troupes in every community in the county.
These organizations report that grants from the tax have helped to stabilize their funding and enabled them to provide free or reduced-price performances.
If reauthorized by voters, ZAP would run for another 10 years, from 2007 to 2016.
The success of ZAP in Salt Lake County has inspired Weber and Davis counties to propose similar programs. The tax rate will be the same, but the recipients will vary depending upon the makeup of the cultural institutions in various communities.
Tooele City's PAR proposal would primarily support park development, but it also could help the city's 20-year-old Arts Festival.
Art and recreation may be priceless, but they also have a price. Whether it is ZAP, RAP, RAMP or PAR, this modest tax helps make life more interesting.
