Poll results show that Measure 2 won’t fly

A Forum Communications poll confirms that a majority of North Dakotans are not buying into the phony promises of Measure 2, the proposed property tax repeal. If there is a surprise in the survey conducted by Essman/Research of Des Moines, Iowa, it is that the majority who intend to vote “no” on No. 2 is upward of 70 percent of those polled May 3-8.

Among the conclusions that can be drawn from poll results:

* There is no credible evidence or substance to measure proponents’ claims that fixed-income elderly homeowners are losing their homes to property tax foreclosures. Indeed, the “no” vote was strongest among older North Dakotans.

* Nearly 60 percent of those who say they will vote “no” will do so because they are unsure how lost property tax revenues will be made up. In other words, they value the local revenue from property taxes because it is applied to local needs. Measure supporters said the shortfall would be replaced by the Legislature, an argument that generated eye-rolling and belly laughs.

* Nearly 30 percent of the polled “no” voters said they worried about loss of local control. Measure supporters countered that much of the funding local governments receive is not local and has strings attached, so local control has been compromised. If that’s the reality (it’s not in practice), then why would North Dakotans vote for a constitutional change that would take away more local control? Why would they be fooled by an ill-conceived scheme that would make local budgets and locally elected officials irrelevant, and at the same time shift the power of the local purse to the Legislature and state government bureaucracy?

Backers of Measure 2 have been reluctant to answer the hard questions, instead parroting each other with, “The Legislature will take care of it.” They have taken the low road by accusing state and local officials, businesspeople and others who oppose the measure of lying and/or violating state law for merely doing their jobs to inform about the potential impacts of the measure. A measure supporters’ lawsuit that aimed to muzzle elected officials was tossed out of court.

As poll watchers know, a poll is only a snapshot. But when poll results — especially about an issue that has been prominent in the news — are so overwhelmingly one-sided, it’s safe to bet the die has been cast.

Tags: measure 2, opinion, editorials, polls