City of Boulder voters are being presented with a once-in-a-generation chance to enhance Boulder’s future through the Arts, Culture and Heritage Tax, an extension and dedication of an existing tax that could provide $7.5 million a year in public funding for the arts (visit artsforboulder.com for more information). Boulder spends 60% less than peer cities on arts and culture. The most funding arts/culture programs have received, $1.8 million in 2023, is less than 1% of the city’s general fund budget. Boulder’s Parks and Rec and Open Space departments by comparison receive a combined $68 million, supported by their own dedicated city taxes.

Boulder’s future can be enhanced by the Arts, Culture and Heritage Tax ballot petition, which can be viewed and signed at the artsforboulder.com website. This is a grass-roots effort by Create Boulder, a nonprofit organization supporting arts and culture, in collaboration with dozens of local arts organizations.

If we achieve the required number of signatures by June 9, City of Boulder voters can decide in November on extending an existing 0.015% sales tax — without raising taxes — and dedicating the revenues for arts, culture and heritage. The tax, which earns 15 cents on $100 in purchases, expires at the end of 2024. Dedicating this tax could provide millions of dollars annually for arts, culture, and heritage programs, events, and facilities beginning in 2025.

As recent chairs of the Boulder Arts Commission (BAC) and members from 2016 to 2023, we believe voters should have the opportunity to decide on this ballot measure. First, it would be a game changer for the city, expanding opportunities for our young people, underserved communities and new and established arts and culture organizations. It would mean sustainability for the creative individuals and nonprofits that help make our city more welcoming, inclusive and connected — and improve quality of life for all of us.

Why do arts and culture need more funding? We witnessed, year after year, that many qualified artists and arts/culture organizations receive no city support through BAC’s thoughtful but ultra-competitive grants process. The majority of our arts/culture organizations meet the high standards reflected in BAC’s scoring rubric; they understand community priorities and show how they provide benefits to the community. But every year, we face a shortfall in funding. Even large and nationally renowned organizations like the Boulder Philharmonic have missed out on grant funding.

How would the tax revenues be used? Revenues could increase the number of grants and make them large enough to have a meaningful impact. They could support more free arts and multicultural heritage events, programs and spaces. A current grant recipient, the Dairy Arts Center, for example, hosts Dia de Muertos celebrations and the Creative Nations’ Sacred Space for native artists. Revenues could allow for new programming at institutions like BMoCA, the Museum of Boulder or Chautauqua, and inspiring public art, such as Street Wise Arts’ murals created by women and LGBTQ+ artists and artists of color. We could see more free performances, like those the Boulder Opera, Boulder Ballet and Boulder Symphony have given at the Civic Center bandshell. We could also see greater support for our official NoBo Art District.

Tax revenues could provide more arts education, like Boulder MUSE’s free after-school music lessons at Uni Hill and Columbine elementary schools; LOCAL Theater’s writing program at Casey Middle School; Boulder International Film Festival’s program for aspiring filmmakers at Boulder High; and Studio Arts Boulder’s free pottery classes for low-income youth.

This tax extension also could help address equity, accessibility and affordability for the arts community, which is getting priced out of Boulder through the high cost of housing, workspaces and performance venues. Revenues could fund new arts and culture spaces through renovations of empty city buildings and possibly help build an arts complex, as other cities in our region have done.

During the past several years, we’ve seen support from our artists and cultural leaders, who’ve reached out to ask, “What can we do to help our community, to address our collective mental health and help us heal and find joy despite difficult times?” If the ballot petition gets enough signatures Boulder voters will get the chance to decide on long-term support for arts, culture and heritage.

Boulder residents Kathleen McCormick and Mark Villarreal are former chairs and members of the Boulder Arts Commission.