August 30, 2012 11:01 PM UTC

Poll: Will de-Brucing Measure Pass This Year?

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• by: Colorado Pols

Early last week, the Denver City Council voted to refer Mayor Michael Hancock’s “de-Brucing” measure to the November ballot, asking voters to allow the city to keep the $86 million in revenues currently returned to the public every year.

Hancock was quick to celebrate the decision in a statement:

“I applaud my colleagues for their overwhelming support of this bill and for giving Denver voters the opportunity to eliminate the city’s budget deficit, recover from the recession and restore essential services that have been cut over the past four years. I also want to thank the business and civic leaders, including former Mayor Guillermo “Bill” Vidal, who stood today in support of a better future for our entire city.

“Nearly every other municipality and school district in Colorado has taken similar steps to help their local economies grow out of this recession and it is time Denver does the same. This proposal is part of a fair, balanced and reasonable approach to eliminate Denver’s budget gap and restore city services to our children, open libraries full-time, replace aging police and fire vehicles and repave streets that haven’t been resurfaced in two decades.”

Denver voters approved a similar measure in 2005, Referred Measure 1B, with 66% in favor and 34% opposed. Although that initiative passed handily with turnout especially high for an off-year election, it was aided by the statewide campaign for other TABOR-related measures, Referendums C & D.

It’s also important to remember that when voters were debating whether to give Denver additional revenues in 2005, Colorado’s economy had more or less rebounded from the 2001-2003 recession.

In 2012, then, with a struggling economy the central issue in a fiercely competitive presidential campaign, many voters might just be inclined to vote “no” either because they’re unsure about the measure’s effects or because they’re hesitant to allow the city to keep a single penny more of their money when their own pocketbooks are looking a little bare.

In famously-liberal Denver, the first outcome is probably a lot more likely than the second. And that’s nothing a well-oiled “YES on” campaign can’t fix.

What do you think? That is, if the election were held tomorrow, do you believe Denver’s de-Brucing measure will pass this year?

A poll follows.

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