How Denver-Area Arts Groups Split Millions From Cultural Tax District

By Colorado Public Radio Staff
·
<p>(Staff/CPR News)</p>
<p>SCFD organizations <span style="color: rgb(64, 69, 64);">(left)</span> VSA Colorado, Inside The Orchestra and Curious Theatre Company.</p>
Photo: SCFD grid 2016 (story size)
SCFD organizations (clockwise from top left) Curious Theatre Company, Denver Botanic Gardens, Inside The Orchestra, Colorado Ballet and VSA Colorado.

If you visit a museum, see a stage production, or listen to an orchestra around the Denver metro, there’s a good chance you helped pay for it.

Of course, you purchased a ticket. But hundreds of organizations have also benefited from a cultural tax district that’s been in place for nearly three decades.

Since 1989, the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District has distributed revenue from a 0.1 percent sales and use tax to the tune of more than $910 million. For more insight into how SCFD works, check out CPR’s recent guide.

Last year, those funds amounted to more than $54 million split among 272 organizations. But those millions in tax dollars will be at stake this year.

This November, the SCFD will ask voters in seven counties whether to extend the district. Voters have approved extensions twice before -- in 1994 and 2004.

So we were curious about how these dollars get divvied out among science and cultural organizations. Here's the breakdown from 2015 according to the latest report:

Adams County

  • A Child's Song ($24,551.72)
  • Adams County Historical Society ($45,875)
  • Adams County Visual Arts Commission ($56,892.50)
  • Brighton Cultural Arts Commission ($78,380)
  • Brightonmusic Choir & Orchestra ($4,886.88)
  • Commerce City Cultural Council ($7,793.44)
  • Kim Robards Dance ($112,151.91)
  • North Metro Arts Alliance ($27,486)
  • Northglenn Arts & Humanities Foundation ($93,228.75)
  • The Northland Chorale ($12,936.88)
  • Paletteers Art Club ($4,766.09)
  • Platte Valley Players ($16,178.16)
  • Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory ($274,444.78)
  • South Westminster Arts Group ($22,300)
  • Thornton Arts, Science & Humanities Council ($39,343.20)
  • Thornton Community Band ($5,916.46)
  • Thornton Community Chorus ($2,088)
  • Westminster Historical Society ($41,751.35)

Arapahoe County

  • Arapahoe Philharmonic ($84,924)
  • Aurora Singers ($7,892)
  • Cherry Creek Chorale ($23,677)
  • City of Aurora Cultural Services Division ($284,783.67)
  • Colorado Wind Ensemble ($14,957)
  • Downtown Aurora Visual Arts ($141,576)
  • Englewood Arts ($27,623)
  • Englewood Cultural Arts Division ($18,547)
  • Grand Design ($18,036)
  • Greenwood Village Arts & Humanities Council ($44,395)
  • Heritage Fine Arts Guild of Arapahoe County ($2,960)
  • Hudson Gardens & Event Center ($368,608.17)
  • Ignite Theatre ($42,712)
  • Kantorei ($11,575.67)
  • Littleton Community Music Association ($28,931)
  • Littleton Symphony Orchestra ($20,717)
  • Littleton Town Hall Arts Center ($64,725)
  • Magic Moments ($24,170)
  • Mountain Chamber Music Society ($307.50)
  • Mudra Dance Studio ($25,099)
  • Museum of Outdoor Arts ($99,389)
  • Phamaly Theatre Company ($150,395.39)
  • Philippine American Society of Colorado ($13,426)
  • Plains Conservation Center ($121,137)
  • South Suburban Parks & Recreation District - Arts & Enrichment ($26,877)
  • South Suburban Parks & Recreation District - Nature Programs ($17,758)
  • Up Close and Musical ($20,490)
  • Vintage Theatre ($99,641)
  • Voices West ($19,227)
  • Young Voices of Colorado ($91,272.50)
  • Zikr Dance Ensemble ($6,764)

Boulder County

  • Ars Nova Chamber Singers ($8,400)
  • Arts Longmont ($19,040)
  • ArtWalk Longmont ($6,600)
  • Boulder Bach Festival ($8,400)
  • Boulder Ballet ($42,576.40)
  • Boulder Chamber Orchestra ($12,820)
  • Boulder Chorale ($14,179)
  • Boulder Concert Band ($1,800)
  • Boulder County Arts Alliance ($22,400)
  • Boulder County Audubon Society ($3,480)
  • Boulder Dinner Theatre Academy ($2,142)
  • Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company ($32,820)
  • Boulder Friends of Jazz ($790.40)
  • Boulder History Museum ($22,809.60)
  • Boulder International Fringe Festival ($19,240)
  • Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art ($64,917)
  • Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra ($41,850)
  • Boulder Potters Guild ($5,000)
  • Boulder Symphony ($6,240)
  • Cantabile Singers ($1,750)
  • Catamounts ($5,797)
  • CenterStage Theatre Company ($5,480.80)
  • Colorado Chautauqua Association ($641,790.15)
  • Colorado Film Society ($25,000)
  • Colorado Friends of Old Time Music and Dance ($13,825)
  • Colorado MahlerFest ($8,000)
  • Colorado Music Festival ($170,901.46)
  • Dairy Center for the Arts ($27,000)
  • East Boulder County Artists ($1,186)
  • eTown ($182,980.55)
  • Firehouse Art Center ($10,400)
  • Frequent Flyers Productions ($21,492)
  • Greater Boulder Youth Orchestras ($16,200)
  • Growing Gardens ($20,000)
  • Historic Boulder ($6,760)
  • Imagination Makers ($20,803)
  • Interweave Dance Theatre ($1,500)
  • Lafayette Cultural Arts Commission ($12,960)
  • Lafayette Miners Museum ($3,087)
  • Lemon Sponge Cake Contemporary Ballet ($1,500)
  • Longmont Chorale ($5,400)
  • Longmont Jazz Association ($1,026)
  • Longmont Museum ($29,000)
  • Longmont Symphony Orchestra ($28,000)
  • Longmont Theatre Company ($5,000)
  • Longmont Youth Symphony ($4,500)
  • Louisville Art Association ($3,000)
  • Louisville Cultural Council ($1,872)
  • Lyons Redstone Museum ($4,297.44)
  • Menorah: Arts, Culture & Education ($16,800)
  • OpenArts ($12,312)
  • Parlando School for the Arts ($29,000)
  • Pro Musica Colorado Chamber Orchestra ($7,336.44)
  • Rocky Mountain Revels ($3,244.80)
  • Shaolin Hung Mei Kung Fu Association ($12,307.68)
  • Stories on Stage ($39,594.60)
  • Upstart Crow ($1,800)
  • The Art Underground ($6,462)
  • Theater Company of Lafayette ($3,140.80)
  • Third Law Dance/Theater ($12,735.64)
  • Thorne Nature Experience ($63,746.08)
  • Turning The Wheel ($7,020)
  • Wild Bear Center for Nature Discovery ($25,000)
  • WOW! Children's Museum ($46,361.08)

City and County of Broomfield

  • Broomfield Council on Arts & Humanities ($27,508.26)
  • Broomfield Symphony Orchestra ($4,850)
  • Broomfield Veterans Memorial Museum ($6,305)
  • City & County of Broomfield, Cultural Affairs Division ($42,663)
  • Colorado Repertory Singers ($9,435)
  • Dance Arts Studio ($21,340)
  • Danse Etoile Ballet ($14,110)
  • Rocky Mountain Brassworks ($9,026)

​City and County of Denver

  • Alliance Francaise de Denver ($50,439.85)
  • Art from Ashes ($51,162.78)
  • Art Students League of Denver ($124,935.30)
  • ArtReach ($68,898.50)
  • ASIFA-Colorado ($733.95)
  • Augustana Arts ($67,370)
  • Ballet Ariel ($37,764.71)
  • Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado ($30,066.64)
  • Black American West Museum & Heritage Center ($1,405.58)
  • Bluff Lake Nature Center ($70,164.55)
  • Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave ($44,947.43)
  • Bug Theatre ($9,854.50)
  • Buntport Theater Company ($41,767.54)
  • Central City Opera ($400,557.28)
  • Centro Cultural Mexicano ($33,677.73)
  • Cherry Creek Arts Festival ($100,718.44)
  • Cherry Creek Theatre ($11,969.19)
  • Chicano Humanities & Arts Council ($26,034.58)
  • Children's Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus ($941,165.05)
  • Christian Youth Theatre Denver ($57,093)
  • City Park Jazz ($11,634.05)
  • Cleo Parker Robinson Dance ($173,410.18)
  • Clyfford Still Museum ($322,233.66)
  • cmDance ($58,543.36)
  • Colorado Ballet Company ($657,702.14)
  • Colorado Chamber Players ($27,739)
  • Colorado Children's Chorale ($172,954.75)
  • Colorado Choir & Chorus Organization ($4,804)
  • Colorado Conservatory for Jazz Arts ($21,603.10)
  • Colorado Hebrew Chorale ($8,611)
  • Colorado Honor Band Association ($44,584.72)
  • Colorado Korean Chorus ($10,852)
  • Colorado Photographic Arts Center ($17,912.36)
  • Colorado Symphony ($1,045,063.03)
  • Colorado Youth Symphony Orchestras ($39,572.82)
  • Columbine Chorale ($2,563.22)
  • Curious Theatre Company ($146,641.59)
  • Denver Architectural Foundation ($16,680.04)
  • Denver Art Museum ($7,311,106.81)
  • Denver Botanic Gardens ($4,124,124.10)
  • Denver Brass ($128,116.45)
  • Denver Center for the Performing Arts ($6,380,985.20)
  • Denver Chorale ($1,152.17)
  • Denver Film Society ($544,174.28)
  • Denver Firefighters Museum ($17,250)
  • Denver March Pow-Wow ($39,946.45)
  • Denver Municipal Band ($37,967.58)
  • Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls & Toys ($36,451.43)
  • Denver Museum of Nature and Science ($8,774,732.11)
  • Denver Philharmonic Orchestra ($11,056.12)
  • Denver Urban Gardens ($195,905.68)
  • Denver Young Artists Orchestra ($125,676.10)
  • Denver Zoo ($8,507,980.27)
  • Empire Lyric Players ($3,546.40)
  • Environmental Learning for Kids ($106,166.28)
  • Flamenco Fantasy Dance Theatre ($23,396.55)
  • Four Mile Historic Park ($76,623.36)
  • Friends of Arts Street ($22,507.76)
  • Friends of Chamber Music ($39,010.91)
  • Gift of Jazz ($2,361.82)
  • Governor's Residence Preservation Fund ($20,334)
  • Hannah Kahn Dance Company ($21,041)
  • Harmony: A Colorado Chorale ($6,502.95)
  • Historic Denver -- Molly Brown House Museum ($147,222.22)
  • Inside the Orchestra ($66,051.43)
  • Larimer Arts Association ($7,736.36)
  • Lighthouse Writers Workshop ($187,370.07)
  • Mercury Ensemble ($3,237.23)
  • Mile High Freedom Band ($3,547.60)
  • Mizel Center for Arts & Culture ($368,070.37)
  • Mizel Museum ($258,714.16)
  • Museo de las Americas ($103,476.82)
  • Museum of Contemporary Art Denver ($247,634.99)
  • One World Singers ($8,562.27)
  • Opera Colorado ($248,215.33)
  • ​Park Hill Brass ($3,133)
  • ​​Platte Valley Trolley ($7,020)
  • RedLine ($103,935.69)
  • Rocky Mountain Arts Association ($37,763.64)
  • Rocky Mountain Children's Choir ($70,727.27)
  • Rocky Mountain Ringers ($2,148.71)
  • Sound of the Rockies ($28,872)
  • St. Martin's Chamber Choir ($34,014.97)
  • Su Teatro ($84,555.47)
  • Swallow Hill Music Association ($600,368.42)
  • The Playground ($11,053.53)
  • Think 360 Arts ($105,506.23)
  • Urban Farm at Stapleton ($40,327.13)
  • VSA Colorado ($66,734.09)
  • Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum ($289,469.55)
  • Wonderbound ($179,720)

​Douglas County

  • Cherokee Ranch & Castle Foundation ($112,141.17)
  • Denver Concert Band ($22,500)
  • HawkQuest ($46,644)
  • Highlands Ranch Concert Band ($8,993)
  • Highlands Ranch Cultural Affairs Association ($111,516.15)
  • Lamb Spring Archaeological Preserve ($10,000)
  • Lone Tree Arts Center ($240,960.31)
  • Lone Tree Symphony Orchestra ($15,000)
  • Parker Symphony Orchestra ($13,709)
  • Performance Now Theatre Company ($39,781)
  • Roxborough Arts Council ($10,500)
  • Town of Parker Cultural Department ($306,702.83)

Jefferson County

  • Alpine Chorale ($5,007)
  • Apex Arts & Humanities Agency ($4,132)
  • Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities ($1,122,316.10)
  • Arvada Chorale Company ($9,558)
  • Audubon Society of Greater Denver ($39,818)
  • Butterfly Pavilion ($760,730.12)
  • Center for the Arts Evergreen ($37,189)
  • Colorado Chorale ($12,825)
  • Colorado Dragon Boat Festival ($93,547.04)
  • Colorado Educational Theatre ($15,168.84)
  • Colorado Folk Arts Council ($8,179)
  • Colorado Mountain Club ($222,791.44)
  • Colorado Railroad Museum ($318,646.51)
  • Colorado United Irish Societies ($21,969)
  • Conifer's StageDoor Theatre ($51,208)
  • Denver Pops Orchestra ($3,158.06)
  • Edge Theater Company ($41,057)
  • Evergreen Chamber Orchestra Society ($6,030)
  • Evergreen Children's Chorale ($18,505)
  • Evergreen Chorale ($45,094)
  • Evergreen Jazz Festival ($22,742)
  • Evergreen Audubon ($15,386)
  • Evergreen Players ($40,578)
  • Fiesta Colorado ($30,700)
  • Filipino-American Community of Colorado ($8,491)
  • Foothills Art Center ($77,686)
  • Foothills Arts & Events Agency ($25,454)
  • Friends of Dinosaur Ridge ($124,217)
  • Golden Chamber Choir ($3,414)
  • Golden Eagle Concert Band ($8,783.50)
  • Golden History Museums ($53,071)
  • Golden Landmarks Association ($6,757)
  • Jefferson Symphony Orchestra ($50,014)
  • Ken-Caryl Ranch Metropolitan District ($3,086)
  • Lakewood Arts Council ($9,314)
  • Lakewood Heritage, Culture and Arts ($276,869.71)
  • Lakewood Symphony Orchestra ($12,411)
  • Life/Art Dance Ensemble ($1,950)
  • Lutheran Chorale ($2,807)
  • Majestic View Nature Center ($10,279)
  • Mile High Community Band ($5,618)
  • Miners Alley Playhouse ($61,329)
  • Morrison Natural History Museum ($25,246)
  • Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum ($59,830)
  • Sculpture Evergreen ($12,043)
  • Tesoro Cultural Center ($62,946)
  • West Side Live! Presents ($5,109)
  • WestSide Chorale ($2,338.38)

​Editor's note: CPR and other public media outlets do not receive SCFD funding.

Latest Stories