Taxed: How One-Tenth of One Percent Transformed Denver

Abstract

This article is a qualitative case study on the dedicated funding source for arts and culture in Denver, Colorado. The research shows how the voter-approved sales tax known as the Science & Cultural Facilities District not only sustained the arts in the region but also played a significant role in urban renewal and development. The analysis concludes that cultural policy can play a proactive role in urban sustainable development. Such a concentrated case study on city cultural policy may be useful to politicians, arts leaders, advocates, cultural and urban policy researchers and academics, and others involved in cultural policy and urban development.

KEYWORDS:

• cultural policy
• dedicated funding source
• Denver
• redevelopment
• sustainable development
• tax district
• urban renewal

Acknowledgments

This research was presented at the 2009 Social Theory, Politics, & the Arts conference in London, England.

Notes

1. “Economic sales impact” includes direct and indirect economic impacts of operating and capital expenditures and audience ancillary spending.