(The Center Square) — A majority of Maricopa County registered voters support a renewal of Prop 400, according to a new poll.
The new data from Noble Predictive Insights reveals that 56% of voters support a renewal of the proposition, which is a half-cent sales tax increase to fund public transportation like the light rail. When broken down by party, 68% of Democrats, 47% of Republicans, and 55% of Independents back the proposition.
While Republicans had the lowest level of support for a Prop 400 renewal, only 30% of those polled opposed and 23% were undecided.
The survey conducted from July 13-17 asked 600 voters and had a 4% margin of error.
“I was very surprised to see so many more Republicans in support than they are in opposition to Prop 400,” Mike Noble, NPI Founder & Chief of Research, said in the poll’s news release. “A plurality of Republicans in support of an additional tax isn’t something you traditionally see.”
In addition, the firm polled Maricopa County residents’ thoughts on the quality of transportation infrastructure in the county. Overall, 34% said the quality was average, with 24% calling it “poor” or “very poor” and 34% considering it to be “excellent” or “good.” Democrats had the most positive views of transportation infrastructure, whereas Independents had the least, with 12% of them considering it to be “very poor.”
Legislators and Gov. Katie Hobbs are reportedly working on a possible solution to extending the sales tax, KJZZ reported Wednesday. The governor vetoed a previous bill looking to extend the tax but limited the way the funds could be used, The Center Square reported in June.
