The American Fork City Council approved a resolution amending the PARC Tax Advisory Board on Tuesday, in addition to making amendments to the Policies and Procedures for PARC Tax Funding.

The resolution added term limits for members of the PARC Tax Advisory Board. The term for Advisory Board members will be three years, and board members may be appointed to serve up to three consecutive terms.

Additionally, the resolution added a term limit for the chairperson of the PARC Tax Advisory Board, stating that the chairperson will serve a term of two years, and can serve up to two consecutive terms in the role.

According to the American Fork City Council, the decision to set term limits was made not in response to any actions by existing Park Tax Advisory Board members, but rather in an effort to streamline American Fork’s advisory board with existing PARC Tax advisory boards in neighboring cities.

The resolution also removed the distinction between members of the Parc Tax Advisory Board as a representative of either parks or the arts, with the intention that the best candidates for the role, regardless of their affiliation, should be elected to serve on the board.

Finally, the resolution amended language in the Policies and Procedures section of the PARC Tax for clarity without changing the meaning and stated that all persons, parties, or organizations interested in applying for the PARC Tax must attend the pre-application meeting prior to applying.

This came after Councilmember Rob Shelton asked if there was a way to amend the current language surrounding meeting attendance for groups requesting funds.

“Is there anything we can put in there, you know, ‘Exception by council only’ or something like that? I don’t want to create it where it’s an end-around, it’s good they have to attend,” Shelton said. “At the same time, we don’t want to stop an opportunity because something happened.”

While kept as a possible option, the council also discussed instead opening up additional discussions during meetings in the event there are applicants outside the traditional cycle. The council was also informed that most of the “one-off” applicants are from the city, and that the city always attends council meetings.

“I just want to make sure we still have the authority, being that [the Parc Tax Advisory Board] is only a recommending body,” Shelton said.

PARC taxes were first approved in the city in 2014, and in 2021 were renewed for another 10 years. Funding requests approved in 2021 included $730,300 for American Fork Parks and Recreation, $296,600 for the Timpanogos Arts Foundation, $105,100 for the Alpine Community Theater and $93,627 for the Harrington Center for the Arts.

There were also $59,000 for the American Fork Library, $50,200 for Wasatch Music Alliance, $36,600 for Fox Hollow Golf Course and $23,000 for Friends of the American Fork Library.

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