The Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD) will appear on metro Denver voters’ ballots this November, and citizens will have the opportunity to extend SCFD through 2030.
About SCFD
SCFD is a one penny-per-$10 sales tax that provides nearly $55 million each year to more than 300 arts, scientific, and cultural organizations throughout the seven-county Denver metro community (Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson Counties).
First approved by voters in 1988, SCFD has been renewed by voters three times. The funds underwrite general operations, and enable free days.
Organizations supported by the SCFD served 14 million visitors and 4.25 million students last year alone.
SCFD Makes Big Impacts at the DAM
- At the Denver Art Museum, SCFD makes Free First Saturdays and free family festivals possible.
- SCFD supports preservation and conservation of our art collections from around the world.
- More than a third of DAM attendees visit the museum free of charge every year, thanks to citizens’ support of SCFD.
SCFD Benefits the Economy
SCFD provides significant economic benefit to the region:
- Funded organizations employ more than 10,000 people.
- These organizations generate $1.85 billion per year in economic activity.
- Major exhibitions at the DAM such as Brilliant: Cartier in the 20th Century and Becoming Van Gogh have proven to drive tourism, bringing in visitors from around the state, the nation, and the world.
How You Can Help
Citizen investment in the arts through SCFD has given metro Denver a thriving menu of cultural options, and is a key piece of why our communities are named every year as some of the nation’s best places to live.
Denver Art Museum visitors painting in the Studio on Free First Saturday.
A young visitor with an art project made during a school field trip at the Denver Art Museum.
Dancer at the 2015 Friendship Powwow and American Indian Cultural Celebration, a free festival at the Denver Art Museum.
