Roseville Survey Finds Most Might Support Tax Increase For Park Projects

Almost 70 percent of Roseville residents said they would or might vote for a tax increase to fund improvements to the city’s parks, according to a random survey of 760 Roseville residents conducted by Leisure Vision, a Kansas City-based research firm.

Ron Vine, the president of Leisure Vision, presented the results of the survey in a conference call to the Roseville Council Monday evening.  
The survey showed popular support for at least some level of tax increase in exchange for increased services.

About 60 percent of Roseville residents surveyed said they would be willing to pay an additional $3 a month in taxes to increase the parks department’s budget by $3 million a year to pay for the improvement and operating costs of the city’s walking, biking and nature trails.

After Vine’s presentation, in a joint meeting with the Parks and Recreation Commission, City Council members discussed how the parks department should proceed in implementing their 20-year master plan.

As was , the plan identifies dozens of short- and long-term projects including the maintenance of existing parks, the acquisition of land for new parks and the construction of new park shelters and a new multipurpose community center. The total cost of the plan is projected to be $80 million to $90 million.

The master plan was created with input from “thousands of Roseville residents” before it was finalized, said Lonnie Brokke, Roseville city parks and recreation director. Brokke said the plan was “value-based” in that it was limited to citizens who chose to participate, and the department commissioned the $20,000 survey to receive empirical data.

Brokke said the parks department would be analyzing and “cross-tabulating” the results of the survey before making an official recommendation, but his initial impression was that “the survey validates the master plan.”

Jason Etten, parks commission chairman, said the commission had been waiting for the results of the opinion survey and that it will move quickly to finalize a proposal to overhaul the parks system.

“We have deteriorating parts of our current park system,” Etten said, pointing to “playground equipment that’s well beyond safety.”

The survey showed a large majority of residents used and enjoyed using Roseville parks. But a significant minority of residents opposed new taxes of any kind, prompting some council members to express doubts about the political feasibility of an expensive overhaul of the parks system.

Council member Robert Willmus said he considers sales tax hikes “a long-shot” from the city referendum and legislative point of view.

“Tonight would be the first time where I saw any inkling that it would be a tough sell in the community,” Council member Jeff Johnson said, though he added that “an educating component could be a big factor in changing those numbers.”