Lafayette staff report polling and outreach on proposed capital bond; council directs staff to prepare ballot options for recreation and service centers

City staff on Tuesday reported results of professional polling and multi-channel community engagement for a proposed capital bond that could fund renovation or replacement of three city facilities: the Bob Elberger Recreation Center, a new civic center (including city hall and municipal court), and a city service center for public works and operations.

Ryan Wenger of Magellan Strategies presented a statistically valid survey of 788 registered voters weighted to expected odd-year turnout; he said the margin of error on the sample was about ±3.43 percentage points. Early, uninformed readings of ballot language showed 53% support for a property-tax-funded package and 56% for a sales-tax-funded package; after presenting more information about the projects and likely tax impacts, the poll moved support toward 57% (property) and 58% (sales). Wenger noted that professional polling…