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Results from Portola Valley’s town survey from September were presented during a Town Council meeting on Nov. 12. Findings showed that a ballot measure meant to enhance revenue by establishing a real estate transfer tax could have the potential to pass.
The survey by Godbe Research was conducted over the week of Sept. 22-30, collecting responses through phone calls and online interviews from a sample of 220 residents. Select residents were contacted using a stratified cluster sample design from the town’s database of 3,110 registered voters.
In late August, council members approved surveying residents on one revenue enhancement method, choosing the transfer tax over other options that included a parcel tax, a new utility-user tax and changes to the existing tax.
The survey was also intended to gauge the public’s satisfaction with quality of life and town services. According to Brian Godbe, founder of Godbe research, 90.8% of residents were satisfied with overall quality of life in town and 67.3% expressed satisfaction with provisions of town services.
Residents were intentionally contacted for the survey without any prior information shared by the town or surveyors on the ballot measure, according to Town Manager Darcy Smith.
In an initial question about the proposed transfer tax, 59% of residents said they would definitely or probably vote yes on the ballot measure. In the survey, respondents were provided with a mock version of the ballot measure.
It stated that the measure would allow for the adoption of a charter for the town and establish a real estate transfer tax of $10 per $1,000 that would provide $2 million in local funds every year.. The conceptual measure also suggested the tax would provide wildfire prevention, 911 emergency response, trail and recreation facility maintenance, environmental protection and general government services.
The following portion of the survey asked residents to share their support of certain town priorities on a scale.
Among the top ranked priorities were maintenance of vegetation and brush programs to reduce wildfire risk, provide wildfire preparedness, wildfire prevention, rapid 911 response times and prevention of county takeover of local zoning and planning services.
Results showed that repairs of deteriorating storm drains, evacuation planning along Alpine Road corridor, prevention of further reduction of town services and sustaining the ability to pay the San Mateo County Sheriff’s contract were among the residents medium priorities. Low priorities included trail and recreation facilities maintenance and protection of environmental protection.
In the next set of questions, the survey gauged the residents perspective on various ways the measure could be used and whether that would have no effect, somewhat more likely and much more likely effect on the residents vote.
These included the town’s preparation for natural disasters, the ability to maintain autonomy and self-reliance, protect the ability to make zoning decisions, and to allow financial stability and more.
This portion of the survey was intended to provide respondents with more information on the measure, according to Godbe.Â
Afterward, residents were asked again, how they would vote on the proposed ballot measure, given they received information on the measure in the previous questions. Survey results found that 61.2% of people who would vote yes — a 3.5% increase from the beginning of the survey.
“For our feasibility analysis, (this) is a good indication and it certainly exceeds the simple majority even when you apply the margin of error which is 6%,” said Godbe. “This could be as low as 55% but that’s still above the simple majority threshold for general purpose measures.”
Mayor Judith Hasko explained that the proposed ballot measure language was a “straw man proposal,” and does not reflect the town’s concrete plans.
“The idea is to get a sense of what issues are front of mind (and seeing what is) going to be important to people as we go forward making those decisions,” said Hasko.
Portola Valley resident Karen Askey asked the council whether the town actually planned on using the money to prioritize the survey respondents’ prioritization for natural disasters and wildfire preparedness or if it was going to fund for operational expenses and the sheriff’s contract.
Smith clarified that no decisions have been made about any expenditures of potential funds.
“The respondent priorities give us a path in terms of what people are interested in funding,” said Godbe. “There’s a lot more work to be done and a lot more listening to town residents to do as you go forward.”
While the council was purely focused on the results of the survey, Hasko said further follow-up activities can be expected as they move forward with revenue enhancement discussions.
Editor’s note: Corrections have been made to the description of the set of survey questions asking residents to rank statements by levels of effect.
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No we don’t!