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By Lindsey Collom
State Press
Maricopa County voters oppose building a new football stadium for the Arizona Cardinals if it requires a tax increase for county residents, a recent poll shows.
In the poll of 577 registered voters conducted by KAET-TV and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Telecommunication, 56 percent opposed the use of public financing, 35 percent approved and 9 percent were indifferent.
However, when asked to support a stadium funded by an increase in taxes on tourist-related services, such as rental cars and hotel rooms, voter opinion was almost evenly distributed. Forty-nine percent of those with an opinion were in favor, while 51 percent were opposed.
Ted Bilson, a political science senior, said he has no opinion about the building of a new stadium unless his tax money is involved.
"No one wants to pay taxes," he said. "Besides, (Sun Devil Stadium) is a good facility. It's not like it's falling apart."
But Shad Blackford, a political science junior, said he would be in favor of paying for a new stadium because the current facilities are inadequate.
"(The tax) would be minuscule," he said. "I go to Cardinals games quite a bit, and I find it quite uncomfortable because the seats are inadequate. I want my own chair, not benches with numbers. If they build a new stadium, it'll be state of the art."
Blackford is not alone. Fifty-three percent of voters who attend Cardinals games and 63 percent of fans who watch the games on television were in favor of a publicly funded stadium.
Bruce Merrill, director of the KAET Poll, said he wasn't surprised by the poll's results.
"We're in a very strong anti-tax environment right now," he said. "There's still a lot of resentment that Bank One Ballpark was built without going to a vote of the people."
Merrill said voter backlash of BOB only contributes to the existing negative view of taxes, thus ultimately affecting the fate of a publicly funded football venue.
"If (building a new stadium means) you're going to give people that live in Maricopa Country an increase in taxes, it just isn't going to pass," he said.
Francie Noyes, press secretary for Gov. Hull, said the issue of funding will not be addressed until the stadium task force provides a list of solutions to Hull.
"When (Hull) set up the task force, she said in a letter that she hoped whatever solution they came up with would have minimal impact on the public at large," Noyes said. "No one is talking about total public funding. Some have suggested a public/private partnership."
Reporter Lindsey Collom can be reached by phone at (480) 965-2292 or by e-mail at ezralite29@aol.com.
