From The Colorado Independent: Denver’s major cultural facilities have, for several months now, been scrambling to squelch dissent among smaller cultural groups that sought a higher percentage of regional cultural tax revenues than they’ve been getting. Fearing they’d lose their gravy train, the big players warned that squabbling over Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD) funding might prompt taxpayers to vote against renewing the tax subsidy in November.

As of late last week, it looked like the long public relations struggle had ended.

By agreeing, at least in theory, to offer $750,000 in arts grants, SCFD’s top tier recipients – the Denver Art Museum, the Denver Botanic Gardens, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and the Denver Zoo – seemed to have succeeded in silencing criticisms from smaller, Tier II and Tier III cultural organizations. The tentative pact is designed to ensure that when lawmakers vote in the coming weeks on whether to put the tax reauthorization plan on November’s ballot, there will be a united front among SCFD recipients big and small, and no more bickering about funding and transparency.

But now there’s a glitch.

On Monday, Denver’s Auditor blasted the Denver Zoo for stonewalling a review of its finances. The Zoo is expected to receive about $8.5 million in SCFD funding this year. It sits on 93 acres of Denver parks land, benefits from city bonds and gleans about $2 million annually from the city’s general fund, according to Auditor Timothy O’Brien’s office.

All those taxpayer subsidies, O’Brien says, warrant a thorough review of how the Zoo spends tax dollars.

“Despite the huge influx of public funds, the Zoo has claimed that its financial records are confidential,” he said in a written statement. “On February 4, one board member revealed the Zoo’s interest in delaying any audit results until after the November election to reauthorize SCFD funding.”

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