Support dropping for county quarter-cent sales tax increase, poll finds

Support for the idea has dropped 10 percentage points in less than two months and the outcome of the ballot question now appears to be a tossup, according to the latest poll.

The most recent poll shows 42 percent of those questioned would vote to raise the sales tax by a quarter-cent to help pay for $3.1 billion in improvements to Southern Nevada's water delivery and treatment facilities.

Some 47 percent oppose the tax, opting to fund the project with higher water rates and connection fees. The other 11 percent remain undecided.

The margin of error in the survey of 463 county voters is 4.8 percent, leaving the issue potentially in a statistical dead heat.

"What it means is the proponents haven't done a very good job getting their message out," said Del Ali, senior vice president of Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research, the Maryland firm that conducted the survey.

The poll was conducted for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and KTNV-TV Channel 13.

Kara Kelley, vice president of government affairs for the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, said the new numbers don't necessarily mean the tax proposal will lose come November.

The chamber and an umbrella support group, Nevadans for Solutions, plan a broad publicity and educational campaign after the primary election.

"The fact there has been no activity on either side does make the shift a little unusual," she said. "But the only thing a poll is a snapshot of how people feel at a particular time. I really am still optimistic. We just need to make people aware of the issue."

In a poll taken in early June, 52 percent of those surveyed favored the tax option while 36 percent supported higher user fees. Kelley said she has seen recent polls showing similar numbers, but Ali said the idea may simply have lost its initial steam.

"Usually initiatives that involve tax increases or revenue increases have to be well ahead by this time," he said. "It's going to take something remarkable for it to come back."

The sales tax increase landed on the November ballot after Clark County Commissioners, who at one time strongly supported the plan, backed away from final action and instead sent the matter to voters.

The ballot question asks whether ongoing upgrades to the water system should be funded with the tax or with higher user fees, and will be advisory only; commissioners will have the last word on any tax increase.

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