Proponents of the "arts and animals tax" tried and failed Thursday to get suburban mayors aboard the bandwagon, but they will continue trying during the next two weeks.
On May 19, the mayors and county commissioners of the Salt Lake County Council of Governments will meet in a special session to reconsider a motion endorsing the 1/10th percent sales-tax hike.The motion was proposed Thursday by Salt Lake Mayor Deedee Corradini and supported by Salt Lake County Commission Chairman Jim Bradley, who said the mayors' support could make a big difference in the June 8 referendum.
With only 30 days left before the election, "it's critical that (the council) take a vote and make its position known as soon as possible," Corradini said.
But the nine suburban leaders in attendance at the meeting declined to vote on the motion until their city councils have had a chance to express their views.
"I'm not opposed to it, but I'm not prepared to vote on it," said Midvale Mayor Everett Dahl. "Keep in mind that all the mayors are up for election this year, and it's not a good idea to act on a tax-hike issue without checking the sense of our communities."
West Jordan Mayor Kenneth Miller also refused to vote without first consulting his council, saying questions of local interest have not been answered. For example, he said it's unclear whether community art councils would be eligible for funding.
Also, some of the mayors were clearly perturbed at the fast-track approach of the ballot issue, complaining 30 days doesn't allow enough time to thoroughly debate the proposal.
Noting that most of the mayors were not consulted before the County Commission set the date for the special election, Sandy Mayor Larry Smith said it was unreasonable to ask the council to take a hasty position.
Smith also objected to the timing of the special election, saying, "I think it's inappropriate to bring a tax issue before voters in a June election. Is there any reason why it couldn't have been placed on the general election ballot?"
Bradley said waiting until November would delay the funding of the arts organizations another year, and "many of those organizations don't have that year."
Corradini, a former chairman of the Utah Symphony board of directors, added that while the larger arts organizations probably can survive a little longer, they and many of the smaller ones are at risk. "And if our flagships go down, our entire arts community goes down," said Corradini.
The council was also lobbied by Ken Knight, the current chairman of the Utah Symphony board, and Ed Mayne, president of the Utah AFL-CIO. Both men said survival of the county's arts groups is important to everyone. Besides arts groups, the money would go to Hogle Zoo.
Mayne said he has been asked why the "Budweiser and Chevy truck folk" should join the "white wine and Subaru" set in supporting the tax. The answer, he said, is cultural activities are important to the education of the community's children and a vital element in the local economy.
He pledged the help of his organization, saying the union will mail literature and operate a phone bank to elicit support from its 68,000 members.
Knight said he is prepared to meet with city councils and other community groups to explain why the tax should be supported. Although he said he himself was not enthusiastic about it at first, he became reconciled to it as the only long-term solution to a funding crisis.
Individual and corporate contributions to organizations such as the symphony have been shrinking, and endowment drives have failed, he said. The "generous period" of donations from old family fortunes is waning, Knight said, and "we don't have another generation of those people coming along."
The 1/10th percent sales tax - 1 cent on every $10 - will generate an estimated $7 million the first year, which Knight said is sufficient to fund 20 to 23 percent of the organizations' budgets.
Organizations with budgets in excess of $250,000 would get 50 percent of the tax revenues; 35 percent would go to those same organizations based on need and at the discretion of the county; 10 percent would be distributed to any organization at the discretion of the county; and 5 percent, or about $350,000 the first year, would go to small arts groups.