Nevada Poll: Likely voters favor Clark County fuel tax boost by almost 3-1 margin

Nearly two-thirds of likely voters support a countywide ballot measure that would require motorists to pay more at the pump over the next decade to generate $3 billion for new transportation projects, according to a poll commissioned by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Sixty-two percent of poll respondents support Question 5, which calls for a 10-year extension of a fuel revenue index tax that took effect in 2013, aimed at providing a steady revenue stream to pay for nearly 200 road construction and maintenance projects in Clark County, according to the poll conducted by Bendixen & Amandi International. The fuel tax would increase gradually to nearly $1 per gallon by 2026.

“Our roads are still not what they should be,” said Henderson resident Tara Kelleher, 20, in support of Question 5. “Ten years seems like a long period of time for a tax increase, but with anything, we have to see how something works for an extended amount of time to really understand the effects of it.”

Twenty-one percent of those polled oppose the measure, and 17 percent said they are still undecided or didn’t answer.

The poll surveyed 539 likely voters across the county in interviews conducted in English and Spanish between Oct. 20 and 23. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.

“In urban areas, people tend to be more willing to tax themselves for various services,” said Anthony Williams, special projects director for Bendixen & Amandi International.

“In Las Vegas, where traffic is becoming a large issue due to the rapidly growing population, it’s no surprise to see that the residents are willing to tax themselves in order to mitigate the issue,” Williams said. “If this was a statewide initiative, you might see a different result because people living in the rural areas of Nevada don’t see the same levels of traffic congestion and may be more willing to vote against it.”

Supporters have said that the road improvements funded by Question 5 would help relieve congestion for roughly 2.7 million residents expected to live in Clark County, along with an estimated 53.1 million tourists projected to visit Las Vegas, by 2025.

If Question 5 is approved by a simple majority of county voters, gasoline taxes could climb about 3.6 cents per gallon annually, according to projections from the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada.

That comes to 36.32 cents more per gallon by 2026, based on a 4.54 percent annual inflation rate connected to the producer price index. Clark County commissioners approved a plan that would cap the annual increases to 4 cents.

“I think it shows that people realize that we’re only going to raise the money for specific projects” said Clark County Commissioner Larry Brown, who serves as chairman of the RTC’s board.

“We have a list of them, we’re showing where the dollars are being spent and the timeframe to get them built, which I think really helped to build up the credibility of Question 5,” Brown said. “It gives some comfort that this investment is a good one.”

Though there is no formal opposition to Question 5, Nevada drivers already pay the seventh-highest gasoline prices in the United States and the country’s 10th-highest gasoline tax, according to a study released in September by the Guinn Center, a nonprofit, bipartisan research group in Las Vegas.

James Shrader, 58, of Henderson, opposes the tax hike. “I looked at the (tax) increase from a purely economical standpoint,” said Shrader. “I don’t want to see the cost of living go up. The money going out is from the consumers.”

One argument against the tax, according to the study, is that it takes a larger percentage of income from poor people. The Guinn study also noted that the tax could be deemed unfair to owners of older, gas guzzling-vehicles, who would have to pay more at the pump, while drivers of expensive hybrid and electric cars are able to avoid the tax.

Bendixen & Amandi International, based in Miami, has done projects for clients including The Washington Post, Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign and President Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns.

Contact Art Marroquin at amarroquin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Follow @AMarroquin_LV on Twitter.