Open-space backers cheer

Backers of a statewide growth-control initiative say they collected enough signatures by Tuesday's deadline to put the $150 million bond measure to preserve open space on November's general election ballot.

"We've gathered over 100,000 signatures and we really only needed about 77,000," said Amanda Smith, president of Utahns for Clean Water, Clean Air & Quality Growth, which was launched only nine weeks ago.

Initiative backers also must have enough signatures in 26 of 29 state Senate districts — a result that won't be known until the state's county clerk's offices verify signatures and send them to the state Elections Office for final approval.

"We feel good about it, but we won't know until July 6 when they do the formal accounting," Smith said. "We've done the best we can and we think we made it."

The measure, spearheaded by the Utah Nature Conservancy, calls for an increase in the Utah sales tax by .0005 percent in order to authorize a $150 million sales tax revenue bond that would be paid off over 10 years. It would cost Utah taxpayers about a penny on every $20 purchase. Proponents estimate that would amount to an average of $15 a year for a family of four that earns $51,000 a year.

In efforts to get the initiative on the ballot, proponents spent nearly $300,000, most of which was to pay Progressive Campaigns, a public relations firm that paid workers $3 for every signature they collected.

"We knew there was no way to do this entirely on a volunteer basis so we hired Progressive Campaigns and asked them to gather 90,000 signatures," Smith said.

About 28,000 signatures were collected by unpaid volunteers, Smith said.

"That's just people who care about this cause," she added. "We had over 500 people gather signatures each day."

The campaign received a total of $407,270 in contributions, which primarily came from conservation groups. The Utah Critical Lands Alliance, a fund-raising arm for The Nature Conservancy, kicked in over half of the amount — nearly $294,000. Other contributors included in-kind contributions from The Nature Conservancy, $50,000 from the Grand Canyon Trust's Moab office and $20,000 from The Conservation Campaign in Boston. Individuals also gave money, ranging from $25 to $15,000.

The campaign started after lawmakers refused to take action on a similar proposal by Rep. Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake.