Drafter

Clerk 10/31/2024

Title

AN ORDINANCE relating to the King County Doors Open Program to support cultural organizations; and amending Ordinance 19710, Section 8.

Body

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

1.  Ordinance 19710, Section 8, allocates the tax proceeds received by the county in 2024 for startup funding to 4Culture and the county and the 2024 one-time capital and one-time operating support program.

2.  Doors Open Program one-time grant programs will allow cultural organizations to deploy resources to their most emergent operating and capital needs.

3.  Providing increased financial support in 2024 for cultural organizations through one-time operating and capital grant programs is essential to ensure their survival and growth and to prevent further losses in the cultural sector.

4.  Councilmembers have expressed interest in ensuring as much of the Doors Open proceeds collected in 2024 are allocated to cultural organizations at the earliest possible opportunity.

5.  With projections indicating that up to sixty-seven percent of 2024 revenue collections will be approximately forty-eight million dollars, adding the remaining nineteen million and four hundred thousand dollars to the one-time grant program allocation would significantly expedite funding for cultural organizations.

                     BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:

                     SECTION 1.  Findings:  It is the intent of the council that all the tax proceeds received by the county in 2024 for Doors Open be allocated for 2024 startup and one-time grant programs and not rolled over to the 2025-2031 Doors Open programs.

                     SECTION 2.  Ordinance 19710, Section 8, is hereby amended to read as follows:

                     A.  Tax proceeds received by the county in 2024 shall be used as follows:

                         1.  Up to two percent for repayment of start-up funding;

                       2.  Up to three percent for administrative costs;

                       3.a.  ((Up to sixty-seven percent)) The remainder after reserving the amount required in subsection A.1. and 2. of this section for the 2024 one-time capital and one-time operating support program described in Ordinance 19710, ((s))Section 4.A.2.; and

                          b.  Of this allocation, at least ten percent shall be distributed to:

                           (1)  cultural organizations, which in fulfilling their primary purpose, focus their programming or facilities to serve one or more vulnerable populations, such as, but not limited to, veterans, seniors, unhoused individuals or individuals at risk of becoming unhoused, individuals experiencing mental illness or substance use disorders, individuals with disabilities, households with an annual income at or below eighty percent of the area median income, survivors of domestic violence, communities at risk of gun violence, or justice-system impacted youth or youth at risk of being impacted by the justice system; or

                           (2)  cultural organizations with their primary locations and conducting a majority of their activities within census tracts ranked in certain percentiles on the Communities of Opportunity composite index and such percentiles will be determined by 4Culture; or

                          (3) cultural organizations for providing mentoring services to such cultural organizations as described in subsection((s 8.)) A.3.b.(1) and ((8.A.3.b.))(2) of this section; and

                          c.  Of this allocation, at least twenty-five percent shall be distributed to support sustainability and growth of cultural organizations outside established cultural centers; and

                       4.  ((The remainder after reserving the amount required in subsection A.1. through 3. of this section)) Tax proceeds not distributed under subsection A.3. of this section shall be used for the elements described in Ordinance 19710, ((s))Section 4.A.1. ((of this ordinance)), in the percentages provided in subsection B.2.a. through f. of this section.

                     B.  The tax proceeds received by the county from January 1, 2025, through March 31, 2031, shall be used as follows:

                       1.  Up to three percent for administrative costs;

                       2.  Approximately seventy-two percent for the elements described in Ordinance 19710, ((s))Section 4.A.1. ((of this ordinance)), allocated according to the following percentages; provided that 4Culture shall ensure that in fulfilling the required allocations of the approximate percentage in this subsection ((8.))B.2. ((of this ordinance)) that at least ten percent of the approximate percentage in this subsection ((8.))B.2. ((of this ordinance)) be used to support:  (1) cultural organizations, which, in fulfilling their primary purpose, focus their Ordinance 19710, ((s))ection 4.A.1.a., qualifying programming or facilities to serve one or more vulnerable populations, such as, but not limited to, veterans, seniors, unhoused individuals or individuals at risk of becoming unhoused, individuals experiencing mental illness or substance use disorders, individuals with disabilities, households with an annual household income at or below eighty percent of the area median income, survivors of domestic violence, communities at risk of gun violence, or justice-system impacted youth or youth at risk of being impacted by the justice system; (2) cultural organizations with their primary locations and conducting a majority of their activities within census tracts ranked in certain percentiles on the Communities of Opportunity composite index that will be determined in the implementation plan required in Ordinance 19710, ((s))Section 9 ((of this ordinance)); or (3) cultural organizations for providing mentoring services to such cultural organizations as described in Ordinance 19710, ((s))ection 8.B.2.(1) and (2) ((of this ordinance)):

                           a.  approximately fifteen percent for the public school cultural access program as more fully described in Ordinance 19710, ((s))Section 4.A.1.a. ((of this ordinance));

                           b.  approximately three percent for launch funding for new or emerging cultural organizations as more fully described in Ordinance 19710, ((s))ection 4.A.1.b. ((of this ordinance));

                           c.  approximately seven percent for reimbursing cultural organizations for regional initiatives and projects, as more fully described in Ordinance 19710, ((subs))Section 4.A.1.c. ((of this ordinance));

                           d.  approximately ten percent for Doors Open Program Building for Equity grants as more fully described in Ordinance 19710, ((s))Section 4.A.1.d. ((in this ordinance));

                           e.  approximately fifteen percent to reimburse cultural organizations for providing free public access to cultural experiences as more fully described in Ordinance 19710, ((s))Section 4.A.1.e. ((of this ordinance)); and

                           f.  approximately fifty percent for operating support as more fully described in Ordinance 19710, ((s))Section 4.A.1.f. ((of this ordinance)); and

                       3.  At least twenty-five percent for a program dedicated to increasing the number, capacity, and stability of cultural organizations or cultural facilities, or both, in geographical areas that need additional cultural capacity as more fully described in Ordinance 19710, ((s))Section 4.A.3. ((of this ordinance)), and of which at least ten percent for:  (1) a program supporting cultural organizations, which in fulfilling their primary purpose, focus their programming or facilities to serve one or more vulnerable populations, such as, but not limited to, veterans, seniors, unhoused individuals or individuals at risk of becoming unhoused, individuals experiencing mental illness or substance use disorders, individuals with disabilities, households with an annual household income at or below eighty percent of the area median income, survivors of domestic violence, communities at risk of gun violence, or justice-system impacted youth or youth at risk of being impacted by the justice system; (2) cultural organizations with their primary locations and conducting a majority of their activities within census tracts ranked in certain percentiles on the Communities of Opportunity composite index that will be determined in the implementation plan required in Ordinance 19710, ((s))Section 9 ((of this ordinance)); or (3) cultural organizations for providing mentoring services to such cultural organizations as described in subsection ((8.))B.3.(1) and (2) of this ((ordinance)) section.

                     C.  Reasonable operating and staffing costs for each element of the Doors Open Program may be paid from the proceeds allocated in subsections A.4., B.2., and B.3. of this section, in addition to the allocation for administrative costs in this ordinance.

                     D.  The Doors Open Program may grant proceeds on a reimbursement basis to a fiscal sponsor for the purpose of contracting with a sponsored cultural entity for specific activities or uses approved by the Doors Open Program, but only if the fiscal sponsor: retains control and discretion as to the use of the proceeds; maintains records establishing that the proceeds were used for purposes authorized under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended; and limits distributions to specific projects of sponsored cultural entities that are in furtherance of the fiscal sponsor's own exempt purposes.  The fiscal sponsor may provide proceeds to a sponsored cultural entity only if the specific projects of the sponsored cultural entity provide or continue to provide public benefits identified in Ordinance 19710, ((s))Section 5 ((of this ordinance)).  The fiscal sponsor shall be fully responsible and liable for the completion of the specific projects of

the sponsored cultural entity receiving proceeds and the provision of public benefits the specific project was to achieve.