Albuquerque's Environmental Story

Educating For a Sustainable Community

Environmental Topic: Urban Enhancement Trust Fund

by Karen P. Rudd

Background and Problems

The Urban Enhancement Trust Fund (UETF) was established in 1983 when the City of Albuquerque won a lawsuit against the federal government that required Sandia Laboratories to pay sales taxes just as any other business in the city does. Rather than spend the $6,360,000 settlement, the Albuquerque City Council created a public endowment designed to enrich the cultural environment of Albuquerque. Of largest US cities, Albuquerque is the only one with a dedicated public endowment for the arts - one that does not depend on taxation revenue or other funding sources. Every two years the city uses 90% of the interest generated for projects while the remaining 10% is added to the principal. The Trust Fund is now valued at approximately $7,500,000. In 2003 the city received just under $950,000 in interest to fund arts and cultural projects.

In the original ordinance, 50% of the money available was designated for publicly owned capital building projects and the 50% was used to fund services in the areas of art, music, theater, dance, history, or literature that would have a favorable economic or cultural impact on the city. In 2001, the City Council amended the ordinance to provide that all funds available from the endowment should be directed to cultural projects. That ordinance change was made permanent in 2004.

The ordinance also provides for an eleven-member citizens' committee called the UETF Committee that is responsible for establishing guidelines and policies for spending the money. The mayor appoints a representative from each of the nine council districts and two representatives at-large. The UETF Committee develops criteria for project selection for each two-year granting cycle and provides oversight for each funded project throughout the two years.

UETF is a two-year program with planning, application, review, and selection process accomplished simultaneously with the City's General Obligation Program / Decade Plan process. Unlike the G.O. Bond Program, UETF projects receive final approval from the City Council. Proposals for cultural services projects must be submitted by nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c) (3) organizations. The organization must be dedicated to enhancing Albuquerque's cultural vitality in the area of visual art, music, theater, dance, history or literature.

All projects should advance the Albuquerque Cultural Plan and have a favorable economic or cultural impact on the city. The Cultural Plan was developed over a two and a half year period to identify goals and objectives for the development of the city's cultural environment. The goals identified in the Cultural Plan are:

Projects funded in the past include: arts/cultural educational workshops at community centers, schools, senior centers, and other public venues; free performances, exhibits or cultural festivals; audio, video or electronic productions; oral histories, cultural research or plans; historical or literary publications or programs. Your school may have taken you on a field trip to the symphony, the art museum or a visiting puppet theater or acting troupe may have come your school. Perhaps you have had a special dance, photography or art lesson in your class. Chances are these may have been paid for by the city's Urban Enhancement Trust Fund.

Options and Opinions

Discussion Questions

  1. Do you think the City should have spent the money for something Albuquerque really needed at the time from the lawsuit with Sandia Laboratories? Was it a good idea to set up a permanent trust fund? Why or why not?
  2. If you were a member of the committee deciding how to use the Urban Enhancement Trust Fund, how would you establish priorities for cultural projects?
  3. How important do you think it is that a big city, like Albuquerque, has lots of theater, music, and art for its citizens to experience? Do you imagine that New York or Cleveland, Ohio or Roswell, NM might have more cultural things to do than Albuquerque?
  4. What things could city government do to make it easier for you to see a play or attend an opera or look at artwork?

Possible Solutions/Opinions

  1. The money should be removed from the Trust Fund and spent for things that the city desperately needs right now.
  2. Only permanent physical or capital projects that enhance the appearance of the city should be funded. Cultural projects such as performances of music or theater events don't last very long and the arts, in general, should not be funded with public money.
  3. Each project submitted for funding should be considered on its own merits, not in relation to long-term goals. Many good projects may have nothing to do with the long-term priorities

Activities

  1. Create a bulletin board about Albuquerque's cultural life. Collect newspaper (arts section) or magazine articles about cultural events in Albuquerque. Classify these articles according to visual art, music, live theater, dance, literature, or history.
  2. Name four ways people from other cultures, nationalities, or cultures express their differences.
  3. It has been said that human are one of the only species that make art, music, dance or theater. Have a class discussion about why you think expressing ourselves is important to us.
  4. Working in small groups, write down descriptive or mood words that might come to mind in the following situations:
  5. Select an animal whose movements appeal to you. Draw a picture using lines and shapes that describe how your animal moves. Make a dance or walk around the classroom with movements like the animal.
  6. Listen to different kinds of music (classical, rap, blues, techno, etc.) and draw along with the music.

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