scfd & denver botanic gardens

The SCFD is a special regional tax district created by metropolitan area voters in 1988. The SCFD distributes approximately $35 million annually to organizations that provide for the enlightenment and entertainment of the public through the production, preservation, exhibition, advancement or preservation of art, music, theater, dance, zoology, botany, natural history or cultural history.

The SCFD sales and use tax is 0.1%, or one penny on every $10 purchase in Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties, and provides supplemental financial support to cultural organizations in each of these counties.

As directed by statute, SCFD recipient organizations are currently divided into three "tiers" with each qualifying for funding in different ways. Denver Botanic Gardens is a Tier 1 along with the Denver Art Museum, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Denver Center for Performing Arts and the Denver Zoo. By statue, Tier 1 receives 65.5% of the SCFD funding and Denver Botanic Gardens receives 11.75% of the 65.5%.

The SCFD helps make Colorado a great place to live, work and play. The district is a jewel that not only supports a better quality of life for our citizens, it is an economic asset that creates jobs, attracts new businesses and diversifies our economy. It is a remarkable form of self-investment that pays incredible dividends for Colorado.

Please click here to reach the SCFD home page.

^{This page updated September 2010.}