Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2004 | 2:43 a.m.
Very likely voters in the upcoming Nov. 2 general election overwhelmingly support a ballot measure that would increase the sales tax in Clark County to put more police officers on the streets.
There is also broad support for a statewide ballot initiative to raise the minimum wage paid to employees who don't have health insurance.
Those results came from a Las Vegas Sun/Channel 8 Eyewitness News/KNPR Nevada Public Radio poll that was taken Sept. 20 through Sept. 28 by the Washington-based polling firm Belden Russonello & Stewart.
Of 376 Clark County residents polled, 65 percent said they favor the non-binding "More Cops" Question 9 initiative to raise the sales tax by 1/4 cent in July 2005 and an additional 1/4 cent in July 2009. That would bring the sales tax to 8 percent in 2009. Only 34 percent of likely voters opposed the measure, with a margin of error of 5.1 percentage points.
If Question 9 passes, police would still have to get approval next year from the Nevada Legislature and the Clark County Commission to raise the sales tax. The Legislature, which meets next year, would be asked to give the county authority to levy the tax hike. The county commission would then have to give final approval.
Support for the police measure cuts across all major demographic groups, including gender, age, party affiliation and ideology. The strongest support comes from likely voters aged 60 and older, who favor the measure by a margin of 71 percent to 28 percent.
Clark County Sheriff Bill Young called the poll results "all good news." Metro Police alone, which has 2,300 commissioned officers, would be able to hire about 150 additional police officers annually beginning next year if the proposed tax increase is enacted. North Las Vegas and Henderson, which have separate police departments, also would be able to hire more police officers.
"I'm encouraged by these numbers," Young said of the poll. "The public supports their police agencies and we have a good community. The most important thing we do in government is public safety. That's what the public tells us time and time again."
Young said some people have a misconception that a sales tax increase to support police would give city and county lawmakers an excuse to slash police budgets. He said he would do all in his power to make sure that doesn't happen because the valley's continued growth justifies the need for increased financial support of law enforcement.
"I'm not going to be silent about it," Young said.
The poll numbers were also taken as good news by Metro Detective David Kallas, executive director of the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, the union for Metro Police.
"This is welcome news to us and to every officer who works out there, day in and day out," Kallas said. "I'm pleased by the results but not surprised. As we educate the residents on the need for an increase in police officers, they know they are about to make a decision that will be in their best interests."
The poll results also came as no surprise to Kate Stewart, a partner in the polling firm.
"Crime is usually a local thing," Stewart said. "People see how this question will have an impact on their local community."
As strong as support is for the police measure, the support for the statewide minimum wage measure known as Question 6 is even stronger.
In the statewide poll of 600 very likely voters, 72 percent said they would vote for Question 6, with only 22 percent opposed. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.
The proposed constitutional amendment would also have to be approved in the November 2006 general election to become law.
It would raise the current minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $6.15 an hour for Nevada workers who do not have health insurance. The measure would allow employers to continue paying $5.15 an hour only if they provide health insurance to their workers.
The support for Question 6 cuts across all major demographic groups but is much stronger among women (78 percent to 15 percent) than men (65-29), and much stronger among likely voters who identify themselves as Democrats (85-10) than Republicans (61-34). The measure is favored in Clark County by a margin of 73 percent to 21 percent.
"Minimum wage initiatives tend to get broad public support, even among Republicans and conservatives," Stewart said. "Women are generally more supportive than men of plans to increase the minimum wage. Democrats also tend to be stronger on increases in minimum wage. The folks who align themselves with the Democratic Party are more apt to have the lower wage jobs and be part of organized labor."
The Nevada AFL-CIO and the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, a coalition of groups representing labor, women and minorities, are two of the biggest backers of Question 6.
Gail Tuzzolo, campaign manager for Give Nevada a Raise, the coalition formed to support the ballot measure, said the large margin of support in the poll for Question 6 was no surprise.
"We've seen all along that Nevadans value hard work," Tuzzolo said. "When you make $5.15 an hour and work full time you make less than you do on welfare. Nevadans want to see this changed."
It has been seven years since the federal minimum wage, also $5.15 an hour, has been increased. In that context Paul Brown, Southern Nevada director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance, said he wasn't surprised by the poll results because 72 percent of minimum wage earners are adults and 61 percent are women.
"Everything else has gone up in the past seven years, from the cost of milk to the cost of gasoline," Brown said. "Everything has gone up but the minimum wage. If the federal government isn't going to do anything about it, it is the obligation of the state to do something."
The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, which opposes Question 6, disagrees. While not surprised by the poll results, Christina Dugan, the chamber's director of government affairs, said the chamber is opposed to the measure because it does not believe the state constitution should be amended for policy initiatives.
Dugan said the chamber believes that economic diversification, through higher paying jobs, would help lift minimum wages in Nevada. She also said it is possible that businesses would slash jobs if forced to increase the minimum wage. More than 400,000 jobs were lost nationally the last time the federal minimum wage was increased, she said.
"We are not against increasing wages," Dugan said. "We just don't think they're appropriately mandated by the state."
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