If voters approve a sales tax increase on Aug. 1, regional organizations like the Museum of Flight, the Seattle Art Museum and the Woodland Park Zoo and local organizations like Youth Theatre Northwest, the Bellevue Arts Museum and Kirkland Performance Center would all receive a dramatic increase in funding.

Access for All, Proposition 1 on the August ballot, would be funded by a 0.1 percent increase on non-essential items in the county sales tax — one penny on every $10 spent. It will raise about $70 million for regional and community arts, science and heritage institutions, which will be spent on programs like in-school education and free and reduced ticket programs for low-income and middle-class families.

Supporters of Access for All say it will bring people together, inspire creativity and empower people to succeed. Critics question the timing, as issues like education, transportation and affordable housing are still in need of more funding.

Manny Cawaling, executive director of YTN and board member of Cultural Access Washington, which is sponsoring the “Yes on Prop 1” campaign, said he sees these issues as interrelated.

“We wanted to create and craft something that would have the most impactful benefits for students across King County, and underserved communities, to change what has been historic marginalization,” he said. “The facts are clear that these types of experiences lead to greater educational outcomes.”

Passed and signed into law in 2015, the Cultural Access Program authorizes any county in Washington state to put before the voters a measure to provide sustainable funding to increase access to cultural organizations in that county. The King County Council decided on May 1 to place it on the August ballot.

Access for All will help offset arts and science funding reductions, according to the AFA website.

“Over the last decade, funding for arts and cultural programs across Washington has been cut in half. Art and music programs in our public schools were the first to face cuts during the recession, when school budgets decreased, and these programs were never fully restored. And these cuts particularly hurt underserved communities: low-income kids and families, communities of color, seniors and people with disabilities,” it states.

But another criticism is that the sales tax is regressive. Cawaling said there aren’t many other options, as property tax increases are capped. Access for All would be authorized for seven years.

AFA is modeled after a very successful program in Denver, where voters have renewed the sales tax increase twice, but tweaked it for what’s important in the Northwest. It would also provide funding for historical societies and other heritage organizations that “preserve our shared history,” Cawaling said.

Jim Kelly, executive director of 4Culture, which would facilitate the Access for All program if approved, broke down the funding structure at the June 19 Mercer Island City Council meeting.

“One of the things that Access for All is intended to do is to make sure that everybody who lives in King County, regardless of where they live, or what their income is, can access cultural programs,” Kelly said.

He said that AFA has three parts: the public school access program, the regional organization access program and the community-based organization access program. It will prioritize services for schools with the highest percentage of students qualifying for free or reduced-cost meals.

Nearly 10 percent of all AFA funds will support the school program by providing bus transportation and field trip fees, and cultural education plans and in-school programs in all 19 King County public school districts.

About 70 percent would go to regional cultural organizations, provided they support “geographic equity” benefits by targeting the development of new cultural centers throughout King County and partnering with community-based organizations.

About 10 percent of these funds will be distributed as seed money for “cultural startups.”

“One of the things the County Council wanted to see was an opportunity to grow organizations in areas of the county that don’t have them today,” Kelly said.

Organizations can receive up to 15 percent of their annual operating budget, to expand their services and outreach. Mercer Island’s Youth Theatre Northwest would receive an additional $100,000 a year, Cawaling said. Each King County district would get no less than $1 million for organizational support.

“King County is changing dramatically,” Cawaling said. “People are moving into the suburbs for affordable housing, away from the cultural programming and infrastructure in Seattle.”

Cawaling said that the teams at Youth Theatre Northwest and other nonprofits don’t lack ideas, but need resources to pull them off. He has a vision of starting outreach programs in Newcastle, Snoqualmie, Renton and other cities, and said that “if you were to call other organizations, they would have wish lists of similar caliber.”

Cawaling said the initiative is “fair, far-reaching and game-changing.”

“What do we envision? That communities will flourish,” he said. “It will activate vibrant community life outside of Seattle, enhance academic outcomes for all school districts and create events all over the county, so people can meet their neighbors.”