County road and bridge ballot measure campaign continues

Taking stock of ballot measure survey results

By Katherine Nettles

It appears, according to a recent survey, that Gunnison County residents are generally open to approving a potential ballot measure this fall dedicating increased sales tax funding to the county’s road and bridge maintenance. County staff and representatives have determined they will focus their outreach on what is seeming to be most effective with voters, while providing continual data and collecting public input.

This week Gunnison County assistant manager for public works Martin Schmidt reviewed the work he and other county staff and consultant team members have done to gauge public interest and opinion on the ballot measure the county is considering for this fall. The measure would ask voters to approve a .5% sales tax (or more) to help fund roads and bridges at the county level. Data indicates there is around 50% approval among residents based on what people know currently about the proposal. There is potential to move the dial up with more targeted outreach, according to consultants.

“We have done in-person and online outreach with [consultant KLJ Engineering] to figure out the public’s perspective there, and we have also done a survey with Magellan,” summarized Schmidt in a work session with county commissioners this week.

Gunnison County conducted a road and bridge ballot measure survey with Magellan Strategies, an independent survey company, to learn more about the overall public response to its proposed road and bridge ballot measure.  Magellan representatives presented the results of the survey, which was weighed to represent the voter turnout demographics of a mid-term election in Gunnison County, similar to 2022.

Magellan distributed the survey to registered voters across the valley over a two-week period starting in mid-February and received 533 responses. Invitations were sent by text message and included a link to the survey. Respondents were asked for feedback about the county’s roads, public works’ performance and were asked to prioritize maintenance needs. The top priorities were snow removal/plowing, patching and pothole repair, asphalt overlays and gravel road repair.

According to Magellan, the margin of error was +/- 4.16% with a 95% confidence interval. 64% of respondents said they approved of the job the county is doing with road and bridges, while only 46% said they thought the county has the resources it needs to maintain them. “This suggests they are open to targeted additional revenue,” Magellan representative Ryan Winger concluded. The survey also showed 50% of respondents indicating they would vote for a ballot measure, and that increased to 56% after voters received additional information. “This stresses the importance of educating residents about the current situation and the county’s funding needs,” according to Magellan in a summary memo.

The biggest concern Magellan identified among respondents was driven by cost of living as respondents said taxes are already too high and/or indicated they would prefer alternate funding sources such as tourism or lodging taxes.

Respondents reported in which area of the valley they live, and 54% said Gunnison, 15% said Crested Butte, 11% said CB South, 5% said Mt. Crested Butte, and the remaining 15% were from Almont, Marble or “other” areas in the county.

Commissioners, county finance director Melissa LaMonica, Schmidt and county communications director Patti Dowd Schmitz discussed with Magellan and KLJ representatives how they should proceed in gathering support to put the measure on the ballot in November. KLJ made clear that based on survey data, sticking to main talking points about the county’s road and bridge assessment, which determined it had a $38 million shortfall for needed road and bridge repairs and upkeep, would be most effective. LaMonica said they might begin to home in on specific projects and “deliverables” to share with voters by early to mid-fall if the county continues pushing forward with the ballot measure.