Taxes hit roadblock

A majority of Nevada voters want anybody but themselves to pay new taxes for improving the Silver State's streets and highways, according to a statewide Review-Journal poll.

The telephone poll of 625 registered voters found support for raising or diverting taxes from casinos, tourists and truckers to help fill a projected multibillion-dollar road work shortfall.

But voters firmly reject further raids on the pocketbooks of everyday commuters via added taxes on gasoline purchases, toll roads or increased auto registration and driver license fees to underwrite such work.

Statewide, 51 percent of voters say they oppose raising taxes to fund the road work deficit, as do 50 percent of Clark County voters. A tax hike for more pavement was backed by only 38 percent of voters throughout the state and 40 percent of voters locally.

The survey was conducted Monday and Tuesday by Washington, D.C.-based Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc.

"They were not really anxious to put out new money out of their pockets," pollster Brad Coker said of voters. "Whenever you asked the average driver or voter for something out of their pocket, the opposition was strong.

"There doesn't seem to be a lot of support for new sources of revenue."

The poll's findings echo the oft-repeated sentiments of Gov. Jim Gibbons, who has insisted he would not support any new taxes to pay for road work or other state needs.

Gibbons has been more vague on whether to raise fees, however, and has been open to the idea of shifting existing state revenues to road work.

State highway officials have warned they are nearly $4 billion short in paying for 10 road projects deemed necessary to keep traffic moving in the coming years, including improvements to Interstate 15 and U.S. Highway 95, the valley's two major freeways.

A task force appointed by former-Gov. Kenny Guinn recommended a series of tax hikes, including increases in the gasoline tax and other fees paid by drivers, to pay for the unfunded projects. Those ideas fall flat with voters, according to the poll.

In the poll, nearly four of five voters reject increasing the state's fuel tax by a nickel a gallon. Statewide, 78 percent of voters were opposed, and similar margins were found whether those polled were men or women; urban or rural; Republican, Democrat or independent.

The findings are nearly identical to an October 2005 Review-Journal poll, which found 76 percent of voters statewide and 79 percent of Clark County voters opposed to such a hike.

"The real clear thing is, with gas prices rising and rumors circulating that it might hit four dollars a gallon, this certainly is not the right political environment to propose a fuel tax increase," Coker said.

A majority of voters statewide also reject raising vehicle registration and driver's license fees (64 percent were opposed) or tolling roads (56 percent opposed), taxes that would be likely to affect a broad range of residents, the poll found.

Voters supported either raising taxes on tourists, the gaming industry or dedicating some current taxes for road work.

The poll found wide approval for using the existing hotel room tax to fund road work (favored by 72 percent of voters), raising the gaming tax (favored by 69 percent), or diverting sales tax receipts on auto purchases and car repairs to the state's highway fund (favored by 64 percent).

"Overall, voters were more inclined to go for diverting existing sources of funding into the roads," Coker said. "Obviously, they're always supportive of raising the tax on the gaming industry.

Additionally, 46 percent of voters statewide backed a 15-cent-per-mile weight-distance tax on large trucks, with 38 percent opposed.

Voters didn't want to cancel or delay Northern Nevada road projects in favor of highway work in more congested Southern Nevada. Statewide, only 19 percent of voters supported such a move, with 50 percent opposed. Even in Clark County, just 24 percent of voters backed the concept, with 38 percent opposed.

Only 9 percent of those polled considered traffic congestion and highway funding the state's most pressing need, far behind education and teacher pay, illegal immigration, and taxes and state spending.

Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, said the poll's findings are "not surprising to me. Unlike two sessions ago, when we were getting lots of letters from people with children about a moral imperative to raise money for education, I've received no letters from people telling me to raise taxes to build roads.

"But I think any package of taxes has got to include all the users, whether it is gaming or trucks. You can't just put it on the backs of the residents who are on the roads."

Sen. Mike McGinness, R-Fallon, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, was unsure what path the Legislature would take in funding road work.

"I think there needs to be some nexus on transportation and gas taxes and all those things, although I'm not sure now is the right time for that. I think we should look at everything that has nexus to transportation to try to fund this, because we're facing a big crisis."

Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman Kelvin Atkinson, D-North Las Vegas, said his chamber won't push a general tax hike for road work, instead suggesting niche taxes.

"Our plan has weight and distance (taxes on trucks) in it, it has the car rental tax in it, it has some other mechanisms in it," Atkinson said.

It's no sure thing that any additional revenue plan for road work will be approved this session, or offered to voters as a ballot question next year.

Titus was pessimistic, saying, "The longer it goes, the harder it is going to be to get something on the ballot."

Coker said a tax hike to pay for road work would be a risky bet for lawmakers intent on keeping their jobs.

"Elected officials can do anything they want. The issue becomes, if they do something will they pay a price?" Coker said. "If they support something and they go too deep into people's pockets, they run a risk of a backlash. If the legislators are reading the polls, they'll stay away from any new funding sources."