Wheat Ridge Council reviews poll showing support for infrastructure spending, favors sales tax over property tax

Wheat Ridge City Council heard results June 8 from a city-commissioned telephone/text survey that gauges resident appetite for funding capital projects and tests potential ballot mechanisms. Mellan Strategies conducted the May 14–29 poll with 678 respondents (weighted for anticipated midterm turnout; margin of error ±3.72%).

Ryan Winger of Mellan Strategies summarized the top-level findings: the highest-priority item for respondents was proactive street and infrastructure maintenance (81% rated high or medium priority). Other strongly supported items were filling gaps in the bike-and-pedestrian network and preserving former school sites for parks and athletic fields. By contrast, a new civic center (a proposed city hall/police/community meeting complex at the Lutheran Legacy campus) ranked lowest among the items tested.

On funding mechanisms, a proposed 1% citywide sales tax increase garnered 60% support and 38% opposition. A 10-mill property-tax increase—estimated to add roughly $375 per year for a $600,000 home and generate roughly $8.4 million annually—received 24% support and 74% opposition. When asked to choose a preferred mechanism, half of respondents favored a sales tax increase, 4% favored a property-tax increase, and about 31% said the city should not raise taxes at this time.

Winger said messaging matters: respondents were more likely to favor a sales tax increase if told a significant share of sales-tax revenue comes from nonresidents. He also reported respondents were split on whether to keep taxes low or to make targeted investments now. The chief concerns that persuaded voters against a measure were affordability pressures and the perception that some projects (for example, a civic center) are “nice to have” rather than urgent.

Council discussion focused on three consequences of the poll: the need for a second, shorter poll with specific ballot language; bundling options (for example, grouping top priorities such as infrastructure maintenance, bike/ped, pool replacement and school-site parks vs. grouping larger administrative facility projects separately); and a timeline that would allow drafting ballot language by early August if council wishes to place a measure on the November ballot. Council asked staff to prepare community talking points for July public outreach and directed the consultant to test how competing ballot measures (for example, county or school district asks) would affect support.

City staff said the poll will inform a potential ballot strategy but no final decision was made to place a question on the November ballot. Council members generally favored additional polling and community engagement to refine bundles, test tax levels (for example, half-cent vs. full-cent options) and evaluate whether any tax would be temporary (sunsetting) or permanent.

Next steps: staff will draft options and talking points, produce draft ballot language for council review, and return with a proposed second-round poll scope and timeline that would align with an early-August deadline for first reading of ballot questions should council choose to proceed.