Public vote becomes more likely for sales tax increase

Even Mayor John Suthers confessed to being surprised at the level of public support for a plan to raise the city’s sales tax to finance much-needed street improvements in Colorado Springs.

“It’s a little better than I thought it would be at this stage of the game without a longer educational process,” Suthers said Thursday.

Suthers spoke hours after the results of a public poll sought by him were released. The phone poll contacted 769 registered voters and found 58 percent support the sales tax proposal.

The poll also found that 75 percent of responders approve of the progress Suthers and the City Council have made on the issue.

Suthers said the poll cost $3,000.

“The next course of action is for me to meet with the Council, sit down with them and ask, given this information, what do (they) want to go to the voters with?” he said.

Suthers said the city has until July 24 to notify El Paso County if the city plans to place the issue on the November ballot.

Past budget reductions because of economic downturns are largely responsible for the poor condition of many streets and roads, Suthers said.

“The decision then, which I don’t second-guess, was to cut other areas but not cut public safety,” he said. “All other money we had for streets and roads went for that purpose. We just didn’t have much of it and now we’ve fallen behind.”

Larry Jackson is among voters who like the sales tax plan.

“We don’t like tax increases out here because of the schools,” he said. “That’s where the big money’s going to. I’m not saying they don’t need money. However, we need to get the streets fixed before we don’t have any.”

But Tim Granger is more skeptical.

“We obviously have a problem that needs to be addressed, but I don’t know if additional taxation is the answer to it,” he said. “I’m a little surprised for this conservative a community to feel like that is the first line of fixing the problem.”

The poll also found that 69 percent of responders support the city keeping $2.1 million in excess revenue and spending it on streets, parks and trails.

The money comes from disaster grants in 2014 and, under the state’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights, requites a public vote to refund the money to citizens or allow the city to spend it on projects.

For more details on the poll, visit: http://mail.npgco.com/service/home/~/?auth=co&loc=en_US&id=117497&part=2.