Portland-area voters offered fairly broad support for an operating levy to maintain Metro’s natural areas, according to a survey conducted for the regional government.
In a March survey of frequent voters by DHM Research, 56 percent of respondents said they’d support an operating levy to maintain natural areas if it cost $20 a year for the owner of a home with an assessed value of $200,000.
Poll data
DHM Research presented data from its poll at Tuesday's Metro Council worksession
Metro is eyeing a levy that could raise between $8 and $9 million a year for maintenance of the region’s 15,000 acres of natural areas, which were purchased after bond measures approved by the region’s voters in 1995 and 2006. Money from Oregon bond measures can’t be used for maintenance.
Support for the potential levy, which is being targeted for the May 2013 election, was fairly even across county lines – 52 percent of Clackamas County respondents said they would support a $20 a year levy, compared to 54 percent from Washington County and 59 percent from Multnomah County. Opposition ranged from 36 to 40 percent.
That's not terribly surprising – Jim Desmond, who oversees Metro's natural areas programs, said the numbers are similar to polling conducted before the two capital bond measures, which passed with 67 and 59 percent of voter support in 1995 and 2006, respectively.
"The same thematics of preservation for future generations were strong then," Desmond said. "The thing that's moved a little bit… is a trend toward taking care of what we have. That resonates a little more, particularly going back to '95."
But the surveys had some surprises. Key among them, survey respondents were more concerned about preservation than recreation.
One of the survey's questions asked whether respondents would vote for a levy because "we need to preserve them (natural areas) for people who live here now and for future generations." In that question, 61 percent of respondents said they'd vote for the levy, versus 11 percent against.
Another question asked whether respondents agreed that "we need to have low-cost recreational opportunities close to home where families can experience nature." That garnered 55 percent support; again, 11 percent said they'd vote no.
"They want to preserve it but they don't care about access," said Metro Councilor Carlotta Collette, "or they're wiling to pay taxes to preserve it, but someone else can pay for recreation."
Desmond said he also found it odd that voters were unlikely to oppose the levy based on the notion that Metro should be maintaining the natural areas out of its existing resources.
In response to the notion that Metro should reallocate its resources to fund preservation and accessibility of natural areas with money it already has, only 22 percent of voters said that makes them more likely to vote against the levy; 33 percent said it makes them more likely to support the levy.
Fiscal responsibility was the biggest mover to get respondents to oppose the measure; 34 percent said they were more likely to oppose the levy because "many of us just can't afford any more tax increases at this time;" more than 30 percent were moved against it because of other priorities like schools, public safety and roads.
With polling indicating the levy's key goals are supported by voters, the Metro Council and Metro staff are left to figure out exactly what to pitch beyond the abstract of "preserving natural areas."
For example, Desmond said, proponents could say "X percent of our land today is dominated by exotics, and we want to reduce that by 60 percent in the next five years. That would be measurable and deliverable."
Councilor Shirley Craddick said the tangible benefits are a key for residents.
"As a frequent user of the Springwater Corridor Trail, I see people discussing the mitigation that's occurred around the trails," Craddick said. "They can see that."
Part of that would fall on a task force of stakeholders from around the region, Desmond said, to advise what goes on the 2012 ballot. While some councilors expressed concern about overcomplicating the issue by adding a committee to make suggestions, Metro chief operating officer Martha Bennett suggested another benefit.
"If you do decide as a council to go to the ballot at some point, you're going to want to have some folks who are engaged in a campaign," she said. "We won't be able to engage in a campaign."
That campaign is unlikely to come this year – despite the support in the survey, Desmond said he didn't think Metro and proponents could have adequate public process in time for a November 2012 vote.
The DHM Research survey, conducted in early March, included 200 people from each of the three counties in the Metro area.