CACHE COUNTY – Nearly $5 million in combined tax revenue will be available in 2025 for grants to local communities and non-profit organizations from the Recreation, Arts, Parks and Zoos (RAPZ) and Restaurant taxes collected by Cache County.
The application deadline for those groups is 5 p.m. on Friday, March 7 and their grant requests must be completed online at https://www.cachecounty.gov/rapz
Many parks, recreation and cultural amenities in our county exist today thanks to RAPZ and Restaurant tax revenue grants, according to County Executive David Zook.
He explains that applications for those grants must be filled out completely, including a concise overall budget for the submitting organization and the financial details for the specific funding request.
The county’s RAPZ & Restaurant Board will review all submitted applications and make award recommendations to the Cache County Council in May.
After receiving the approval of member of the County Council, the submitting groups will be notified of final grant amounts.
Cache County has collected a 1 percent sales tax on prepared food since 1992, known as the Restaurant Tax.
Publicly owned or operated facilities can request grants from Restaurant Tax revenues for capital projects or maintenance expenses. Private non-profits can tap these funds only for tourism promotion.
The RAPZ (Recreation, Arts, Parks and Zoos) Tax — which is a tenth of 1 percent sales tax — was added in 2002 to support capital projects and the operating expenses of local recreational venues or cultural events.
Those combined revenues can also be used for either capital projects or maintenance expenses by publicly-owned facilities for tourism promotion, recreation, cultural arts, convention centers and airports.
The RAPZ tax was renewed by Cache County voters in 2012 and 2022.
Zook adds that revenue from these combined taxes are great opportunity for local communities and organizations to partner with Cache County to improve the quality of life for local residents.