New Poll Says Portlanders Want to Vote on the Street Fee

A poll coordinated by the Portland Business Alliance shows 77 percent of Portlanders want to vote on the street fee.

Mayor Charlie Hales and City Commissioner Steve Novick have fiercely opposed sending their $46 million proposal to voters, saying the public supports funding road repairs but can't agree on what kind of tax to pay.

The PBA and petroleum lobbyist Paul Romain have both said they are likely to refer the street fee to voters if City Council doesn't. (Earlier today, Romain and City Hall broke off talks.)

The PBA is especially opposed to the residential side of the fee—an income tax graded to charge more to wealthier taxpayers. The new poll focuses on the income tax proposal.

The poll, coordinated by the PBA and paid for by local businesses, signals that the business lobby is girding for a ballot war, and trying to pressure Hales and Novick into sending the street fee to voters.

That would save the PBA the expense and hassle of collecting signatures during the holidays.

The poll, conducted by Moore Information over Saturday and Sunday, surveyed 402 likely voters. Here's the wording and the results.

UPDATE, 4:30 pm: Hales spokesman Dana Haynes tells WW that the kind of poll the PBA coordinated typically costs $25,000. Haynes says the poll suggests the business lobby is no longer interested in constructive solutions to transportation funding.

"I understand the PBA spent money on a poll to find out that people don't like taxes," says Haynes. "We could have saved them a whole lot of money and told them that. The mayor, when he last spoke to PBA, said,' 'If you don't like this proposal, please come up with something else." This doesn't suggest they have."

WWeek 2015