Most S.L. voters want public-safety complex

If the election were today, Salt Lake City would have a new public-safety complex.

At least those are the results of a new Deseret News/KSL-TV poll that shows nearly two-thirds of registered voters support the $125 million bond issue.

Thirty-three percent of the 212 voters surveyed said they definitely support bonding for a new police and fire headquarters and emergency-operations center, according the poll conducted by Dan Jones & Associates. Twenty-seven percent said they would probably support Proposition 1 if the election were held today.

While those numbers are "comforting" to most at City Hall, officials said they would continue educating voters on the need to replace the dilapidated public-safety building on 200 South.

The survey's numbers nearly mirror the results of a city-sponsored poll earlier this year. In that poll, 58 percent of voters favored the bond issue, while 32 percent of voters said they did not.

"It's comforting … but it doesn't change our efforts," said Helen Langan, a senior adviser to Mayor Ralph Becker.

City leaders have been meeting regularly with community councils and setting up shop at back-to-school nights to get the word out about Proposition 1.

"Anywhere we can talk to Salt Lake City residents … we've been getting out there," Langan said.

A quarter of voters, according to the Deseret News poll, still oppose the bond issue, which would add about $75 a year to the property taxes on a $260,000 home.

The survey was conducted Sept. 15 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 6.9 percent.

A similar bond issue failed by only a few hundred votes in 2007. Salt Lake leaders have said they believe the proposal, pared by $67 million from two years ago, has a strong chance of succeeding.

Without a presidential or mayoral race on the ballot, Proposition 1 will be the big-ticket item for capital city voters come November. And while some have expressed concern about a low turnout, the News' survey shows that more than 85 percent of voters have at least a moderate interest in the November election.

Thirty percent of voters described their interest as high, and another 58 percent said they had a moderate interest in the election.

"We think that certainly translates to an active turnout, which we see as very positive," Langan said.

e-mail: afalk@desnews.com