Summit County explains how 0.1% sales tax funds arts and recreation

A $100 taxable purchase in Summit County adds 10 cents for RAP, a countywide levy that has helped send more than $20 million into local arts, parks and recreation since 2000. The same fund also decides winners and losers, from trail grants and cultural allocations to the 2026 decision to turn down the Sundance Institute. For taxpayers in Park City, the Snyderville Basin, Coalville, Kamas, Francis and Henefer, the question is simple: what do those pennies buy that you can actually see?

How the tax shows up at checkout

The RAP Recreation Grant is funded through a special sales tax initiative approved by the Utah State Legislature, and the program allows 0.1 percent of sales tax within the county to be spent on arts and recreation opportunities. Put another way, the tax is one-tenth of one percent on certain taxable goods, so it stays tiny on any single purchase even as it grows across the county’s full sales base.

On everyday transactions, the math is easy to follow. A $10 taxable purchase sends 1 cent to RAP. A $50 purchase sends 5 cents, and a $1,000 purchase sends $1. In a resort county where both residents and visitors are constantly spending money, that penny-level charge is the engine behind the grant pool.

Where the money is allowed to go

Summit County’s RAP Tax Policy states that the program exists to enhance financial support for cultural organizations through the collection and distribution of the tax. County reauthorization language gives the money a wider lane, allowing support for publicly owned or operated recreational and zoological facilities, plus botanical, cultural and zoological organizations owned or operated by institutions or private nonprofit groups.

That broad structure explains why the county runs separate recreation and cultural grant tracks. It also explains why a RAP dollar can end up in very different places, from arts programming to trail systems, as long as the project fits the county’s eligibility rules. County policy also commits the program to fair and equitable access to RAP funding and educational resources.

Why Summit County keeps putting it back on the ballot

Voters first approved the RAP tax in 2000, then renewed it in 2010 and again in 2020. An April 29, 2021 report from county staff said the tax must be reapproved every 10 years or it expires at the end of that period, which keeps the program tied to recurring public consent rather than automatic renewal.

The county’s historical reauthorization argument said that since 2000, more than $20 million in RAP grants had been awarded to cultural, parks and recreation organizations throughout Summit County.

What taxpayers can point to on the ground

The clearest case for the program is visible infrastructure. Basin Recreation says its trail system totals 185 miles, including 45 miles of commuter trail and 140 miles of singletrack.

A June 30, 2021 memorandum described an $8.8 million RAP Recreation Special Bond Grant Program for public recreational facilities or use on public lands. The same memo defined recreational facilities broadly, including parks, campgrounds, marinas, docks, golf courses, playgrounds, athletic fields, gymnasiums, swimming pools, trail systems and other recreation facilities.

Recent grant cycles show who gets paid and who does not

The county has kept using the tax in recent grant cycles. By June 2022, Summit County Council had approved RAP tax grants after the 2020 reauthorization. In May 2024, the county divided up its Cultural RAP Tax Grant allocations, and in November 2024 the recreation grant recipients included Ure and 910 Ranches.

In May 2026, the Summit County Council declined to fund the Sundance Institute with a RAP tax grant.

Summit County’s RAP fund has become a standing part of the county’s fiscal structure, appearing in annual budgets and audited financial statements.