Before bringing any ballot questions to the voters, Longmont City Council members agreed that they want to make sure there would be organized support behind the issues.
Magellan Strategies presented the results of the library, recreation and cultural facilities poll on Tuesday, and council discussed what to do with this look at what projects the public might be willing to support with their tax dollars. However, the shadow of a failed city ballot question in 2019 lingered over the conversation.
Councilmember Tim Waters noted that the number of respondents supporting things like a new library branch, recreation center and arts and performance center were similar to the poll results in 2019, with roughly 52-60% of voters saying they would vote to fund such a project. When the ballot came however, the measure did not have the votes to pass.
Ryan Winger with Magellan Strategies explained that 60% support in a poll is the rough threshold that puts a ballot measure comfortably within the realm of passing, as there tends to be an attrition between poll support and actual ballot support. Only a new library branch and Union Reservoir enhancements reached 60% support — with a 1.8% margin of error.
“(I) certainly would recommend a strong and robust campaign committee to be formed to advocate for whatever the choice may be just to keep that momentum going and keep that support where it is,” Winger said.
However, Longmont City Council and staff are not allowed in their official capacities to campaign for any measures once they have been put on a ballot. That means once the city votes to put any question out to voters, it would be on an outside campaign committee to garner support for the ballot question.
Waters noted that he felt that was where the 2019 ballot question fell short. He added that whatever he votes to put on the ballot, he would want to ensure it has a group of strong campaigners behind it.
“The one of these I’m certain there’s going to be a killer campaign for is the Center for Arts and Entertainment,” Waters said, noting the many residents who have been regularly commenting at city council meetings in favor of the facility, including on Tuesday evening. “… The message to anybody else that’s a champion of these needs to pay real close attention to what we’re hearing from the public, from (Magellan) and what we should’ve learned from 2019.”
Other council members echoed Waters’ suggestion that members of the public interested in these specific projects should start assembling and advocating for what they want to see in Longmont.
Councilmember Susie Hidalgo-Fahring also wanted more messaging about what these investments could mean for Longmont.
“I was a little frustrated when I was reading this because overwhelmingly I’m hearing from residents, my constituents, parents, colleagues in the educational field that we don’t have enough for kids to do,” she said. “This is an opportunity to build a robust social infrastructure for our future, looking at building and supporting our future.”
There was some discussion about possibly placing more than one question on the ballot, as grouping projects together was less popular than individual projects. Winger suggested not exceeding more than three or four ballot questions, and staff did note that adding extra questions would cost the city more.
Councilmember Marcia Martin inquired about other options for finding money down the road for some of the surveyed projects. City Manager Harold Dominguez cautioned that inflation and labor demands are already putting a stress on the current city budget.
“Incrementally funding these is going to be difficult over time when you see all the pressures in play,” he said. “So, what are the options? There’s not a lot of options when you look at the magnitude of dollars that we’re talking about here.”
The city will likely put out another survey to refine questions further. City council was encouraged to email staff with question ideas.
City advisory boards will also be seeing these survey results and likely asked about support for these projects in their respective areas.
On a final note, Dominguez noted that it was important to be mindful that with 2023 being a reappraisal year, property taxes will likely be going up for many residents with or without any of these proposed tax increases.
“I think as we’re moving forward in the conversation (we are) really being mindful of what the community impact is as we’re moving toward a decision,” he said. “… We don’t know what the economy’s going to be like by the time this hits the ballot, and we need to understand and think through those as we have this conversation.”
