SCFD & Denver Botanic Gardens

The Scientific & Cultural Facilities District (SCFD) is a special regional tax district mandated by metropolitan area voters in 1988. The SCFD distributed approximately $83,000,000 in 2022  to organizations that provided for the enlightenment and entertainment of the public through the production, preservation, exhibition, advancement or preservation of visual arts, performing arts, cultural history, natural history or natural sciences.

The SCFD sales and use tax is 0.1 percent, or one penny on every $10 purchase in Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties. The tax 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 statute, Tier 1 receives 64 percent of the SCFD funding and Denver Botanic Gardens receives 13.25 percent of the Tier I allocation.

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.

Updated September 2024