Transit Tax Finds Backing
(News and Observer – March 25, 2009)
Triangle voters are leaning in favor of a proposed local sales tax increase to pay for bus and rail transit improvements, according to a poll commissioned by a pro-transit business group.
The poll of 1,006 registered voters found that 49.1 percent favored the legislation and 42.1 percent opposed it, with the rest undecided. Asked whether they would vote to tax themselves if the proposed half-penny tax was on a local referendum ballot, a larger share said yes - 52.8 percent, with 43.7 percent opposed. The numbers for Wake County alone were less favorable on the transit sales tax. The enabling legislation was opposed by 47.8 percent to 46.2 percent of Wake voters surveyed, while the local sales tax vote itself was supported by 50.5 percent to 46.7 percent.
Joe Milazzo II, executive director of the Regional Transportation Alliance, said the results show “a promising level of initial support, given the current focus on the economy.”
The poll found that voters opposed an increase in property taxes to pay for transit, by 56.9 percent to 39.2 percent.