The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 07/16/2002 - MOTION DIRECTING STAFF TO DEVELOP BALLOT LANGUAGE AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY ITEM NUMBER: 39 FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL DATE: July 16, 2002 FROM: John Fischbach SUBJECT: Motion Directing Staff to Develop Ballot Language for the Transportation Capital Funding Proposal. RECOMMENDATION: The Transportation Funding Committee and staff recommend that Council direct the City Attorney to prepare ballot language for two separate ballot items for the November 2002 election relating to increasing the resources for the City's transportation capital programs, including: .25 cent Sales and Use tax; and 1% Construction Excise Tax. The Committee and staff further recommend that these two measures be presented independently to the voters and that the passage of one not be contingent upon the passage of the other. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: On June 11, City Council and staff met in Study Session to discuss the Transportation Funding Committee's proposal for a long-term funding strategy for transportation capital needs. Overall,the Council supported the Committee's proposal to pursue both a.25 cent Sales and Use tax and a 1% Construction Excise tax. Several issues were discussed at that time,including whether to place two separate items on the ballot or to combine the two taxes in one ballot measure. Since the June 11 Study Session, both the City Attorney and City Manager have provided information to the Council about the alternatives. The City Manager strongly believes that it is important to place two measures on the ballot for several reasons: • Voters have often expressed an aversion to packaged ballot measures that do not allow them to vote separately on what they consider to be separate issues. • The number of words in the ballot language as it appears on the County's consolidated ballot may be limited by the County. If the number of words is restricted, placing both items in one measure is more likely to cause the County to place the full text of the ballot measures in a booklet separate from the ballot. • The recent community survey conducted by George K. Baum and Co. suggests that, while the proposed sales tax has solid support among voters, the construction excise tax has more marginal support. Packaging the two measures in one ballot item may result in voters rejecting both items. Survey results show an approval rate of 52% for the combined package which is within the margin of error of+/- 5% for the survey. DATE: July 16, 2002 Z ITEM NUMBER: 39 A full discussion of the City Manager's recommendation regarding consolidating the transportation capital ballot measures is included a Attachment"A". If Council provides direction to the City Attorney at this time,ballot language could be prepared for Council's consideration at the September 3 regular City Council meeting. Staff is requesting that Council decide, by motion, whether the transportation tax proposals should be brought forward as a single measure or as two measures and,if two measures,whether each should be made contingent upon the passage of the other. Cite Manager's Office ATTAC1tIMEENT �2 N 0 ftZ _ Of MEMORANDUM DATE: June 18, 2002 TO: Mayor Martinez and City Council Members FROM: John F. Fischbach, City Manager(P.0' � RE: Consolidation of Transportation Ballot Questions From a legal perspective, the City Attorney has responded to Council's questions regarding the recommended transportation tax measures and whether the two tax measures can be consolidated into one ballot question. It is the City Attorney's opinion that the two proposed taxes (sales/use tax and construction excise tax) could be consolidated in one question and comply with the single subject requirement. From a strategic perspective, I would offer the following points. A. Voters have signaled they don't like bundled ballots. The 1999 Transportation ballot measure failed (a proposed sales and use tax for transportation operations—traffic signal system; expanding transit service; maintenance). Voters strongly expressed their distaste with how the measure had been packaged—they objected to the fact that the traffic signal system had been combined on the same ballot as transit. The 2001 `Imagine Fort Collins" ballot measure also failed (a proposed sales and use tax for a new library, a new performing arts center, and an expanded museum). Again, one of the major reasons cited for the rejection was that the items were bundled which did not give voters an opportunity to choose what they favored. In a recent survey conducted in relation to the proposed transportation capital funding strategy, respondents were more supportive of a quarter cent sales and use tax than a construction excise tax. However, they seemed to prefer a strategy that uses both a sales/use tax and a construction excise tax to a larger, single sales/use tax approach. It seems prudent to give the voters a choice. 00 LaPorte Aeen_ie • P.O.f X 380 - Fort Collins,CO80522-0580 • (970)221-6505 • FAX(970)214-6107 • TDD(97U)224-bU01 wevw.fcgov.Com Consolidation of Transportation Ballot Questions June 18, 2002 Page 2 B. The ballot lan2une (number of words) is likelv to be limited. To combine the two measures into a single ballot question would result in a longer (more words) ballot. If the length of the ballot language exceeds the standard established by the Larimer County Clerk and Recorder, the full-text of the ballot might be eliminated and placed in a supplementary booklet. In such case, only the title of the ballot measures and the place to marls the ballot (either "yes" or"no") would appear on the ballot. Since the length of the ballot is limited, two ballot measures are more likely to ensure that all the necessary information is presented to voters on the ballot (vs. requiring the voter to carry and refer to a supplemental booklet). Voters continually express their frustration with the language, required by law that must be included in the ballot measure. If they have to go to another source—a supplemental booklet—to read the text of the ballot measure, I'm afraid that their frustration will become more acute and many will not even bother to vote or will simply vote "no" because `the government has made it too difficult to know what we are voting on." C. The coal is to increase funding for necessary transportation capital projects. If our community is going to evolve as envisioned in City Plan, we need a well-functioning transportation system—for all modes of travel. To put in place this well-functionitg transportation system requires more resources than we have at present. The City needs approximately $546 million for its share of the necessary transportation capital. The recommended strategy that Council is considering only covers a little more than 37% of our local funding gap. The strategy is a four-part proposal: • Sales and use tax • Construction excise tax • User fee (Transportation Maintenance Fee) • General Fund (additional allocation) We need all four elements to make the complete strategy work. However, if one of the elements, such as the excise tax, is not approved, we can at least begin to make progress toward the goal of ensuring a good, well-functioning transportation system that supports the fixture vision of our town. D. Sometimes it takes more than one try. If voters reject one of the ballot measures, City Council always has the option of presenting the same or revised measure to voters at the next eligible election. Strategically, if we are trying to increase resources for our transportation capital, it is easier to return to voters if only part of the strategy has been rejected. Again, voters in our community seem to prefer Consolidation of Transportation Ballot Questions Julie 18, 2002 Page 3 • ballot measures that are not bundled. They have more choices—they can reject one measure, the other measure, or both. It also gives its much more information about what %othrs prefer—all, part, or nothing. E. "A balanced approach"has been the theme of developing the solution. Two Council members—Bill Bertschy and Kurt Kastein—were appointed by their Council colleagues to create a strategy that ensures an adequate funding base for the City's transportation capital needs. They were selected because they represent diverse philosophies about transportation and transportation funding. Council members expected that they could put together a compromise strategy—a strategy that balanced the outcomes along with balancing the sources (how and who pays). The strategy represents a great deal of sorting (the various methods of increasing funds) and compromise—the elements do not necessarily represent Bill and Kurt's top choices (nor any of the other Council members). However, the elements do represent a balanced approach and ones that Council, and hopefully, the community can support to begin to solve our transportation capital problem. These are some of my thoughts and perspectives I wanted to share with you as we continue to consider what to present to voters in November. Please give me a call if you would like to • discuss further. JFF/ah Attachment cc: Steve Roy, City Attorney Diane Jones, Deputy City Manager •