DALLAS — Conflicting polls of Austin, Texas, voters indicate the city's $720 million mobility bond referendum on Nov. 8 is either safely ahead by a large margin or on its way to an uncertain outcome in a close election.
A survey released by Austin Mayor Steve Adler shows 56.7% in favor of the general obligation bond proposal while a poll by the Austin Monitor, a web-based nonprofit news site, found 46% in favor and 45% opposed.
The bond referendum would authorize $482 million of bond proceeds for the city's Smart Corridors program to re-engineer seven major thoroughfares, $137 million for upgrades to city streets, trails, and sidewalks, and $101 million for regional transportation projects.
The pro-bond advocacy group Move Austin Forward funded the poll that reported the positive outlook.
The results were released Friday by Austin Mayor Steve Adler, who first proposed the bond plan earlier this year and fought to have the full $720 million request included on the November ballot as a single question.
Adler said he is worried that 17.7% of the voters polled in the survey have yet to make up their mind on the bond proposal.
"The poll numbers continue to look good," Adler said at a news conference. "I am still concerned. I am concerned because of the do-nothing voices in this city, historically and culturally, have a lot of weight in this city."
Austin voters have approved a total of $640 million of GO bonds for transportation efforts over the last 20 years. A $1 billion proposal that included $600 million for a starter light rail system and $400 million of work on state-owned roads was rejected in November 2014 with 57% opposed to the new debt.
City planners said in August that completing all the work on the thoroughfares to be funded by the mobility bonds would cost $1.56 billion, while Adler said work should begin now.
"Nothing we're going to do is going to pay for it all. The challenge we have is so great," Adler said. "It's important that we start so we can demonstrate that this type of work does have a material impact on congestion, a material impact on safety."
Almost 40% of the opponents to the mobility bond plan believe the $720 million request is too high while 11% said they would vote against it because too much of the proceeds are devoted to hike and bike trails.
However, more than 64% of all respondents said the bond program would help ease traffic congestion in the often-gridlocked city while 31% said the closure of roads during the construction work would harm local businesses.
The poll showing a close election was funded by Austin developer Perry Lorenz and conducted in early October by Public Policy Polling.
With only 1 percentage point separating the proponents from the opponents, the 9% of undecided voters will make the difference, said PPP pollster Jim Williams.
The race is too close to call, he said.
"It's all going to depend on where that 9% goes," Williams said. "All signs point to a real toss-up."
The bond package is supported by 59% of Democrats and opposed by 68% of Republican voters, Williams said. Only 3% of the Republicans polled said they were undecided, while 12% of Democrats are still on the fence, he said.
Austin would issue $250 million of 20-year GO bonds from its current property tax rate and another $470 million of bonds if voters in November approve an increase in the property tax rate to $2.25 per $1,000 of assessed property.
