Town of Eagle 2019 Home Rule Ballot Measure Survey

Magellan Strategies are pleased to present the topline results of a 332n online and live telephone survey of likely 2019 general election voters in the Town of Eagle, Colorado. The interviews were conducted February 4th – 14th, 2019.

We conducted a voter opinion survey for the Town of Eagle, Colorado to measure registered voter attitudes toward changing the town’s form of government from Statutory Rule to Home Rule. The overall civic environment in Eagle was favorable, with 68% of respondents indicating the town was heading in the right direction compared to 23% who felt it was on the wrong track. Voter engagement was high, as 95% of respondents indicated they were extremely or very likely to vote in the November 2019 election on local initiatives. However, awareness of the Eagle Board of Trustees’ actions to begin the Home Rule process was limited, with 64% of respondents indicating they were not too familiar or not familiar at all with those efforts.

Despite low awareness, baseline opinions toward Home Rule were modestly favorable, with 37% approving of a Home Rule form of government, only 8% disapproving, and 54% indicating they did not know what Home Rule was. When asked how they would vote on forming a Home Rule Charter Commission before receiving any additional information, 46% said they would approve it, 16% would reject it, and 35% were undecided. The relatively low opposition at baseline suggested an open and persuadable electorate with significant room to build support through public education.

The survey then tested a series of informational statements about the Home Rule process, each of which produced strong movement toward support. The message that Home Rule would give Eagle residents greater authority to create laws tailored to local needs rather than a one-size-fits-all statutory system moved 70% of respondents toward greater support, compared to only 7% who said it made them less likely to support the measure. The assurance that voters would ultimately approve or reject any new charter drafted by the commission moved 57% toward support.

The statement that 93% of Colorado municipal residents already lived in a Home Rule community moved 67% of respondents toward greater support and only 5% toward less support. The most compelling message in the survey was that federal and state laws would still apply under Home Rule, but that the Town would have the power to address local issues with minimal state intervention — this moved 74% of respondents toward support and only 6% toward opposition, making it the single strongest message tested.

The assurance that Eagle would still be required to abide by the TABOR Amendment, meaning voters would retain approval authority over any future sales tax or mill levy increases, moved 59% of respondents toward support and only 7% toward opposition. A message unique to the Eagle survey — that Home Rule would allow the town to directly collect online sales taxes rather than routing them through the state — moved 69% of respondents toward support, highlighting a tangible fiscal benefit that resonated strongly with voters.

The message that Home Rule would allow the Eagle Board of Trustees to protect and preserve the town’s unique values and culture while giving residents control over future changes moved 71% of respondents toward support and only 7% toward opposition. Across all informational messages tested, opposition remained consistently low, never exceeding 8%, reflecting the broad receptivity of Eagle voters to the Home Rule concept once provided with factual information about the process and its safeguards.

After being presented with all informational statements, support for approving a Home Rule Charter Commission rose substantially to 71% in favor, 13% opposed, and 16% undecided — a 25-point increase from the pre-information baseline of 46%. The data indicated exceptionally strong and persuadable support for Home Rule in Eagle, with the messages about local control over state intervention, the direct collection of online sales taxes, TABOR protections, and the preservation of Eagle’s community values emerging as the most effective arguments for proponents of the measure. The Vail Daily was identified as the most widely used source of local government information among respondents, suggesting it would be a critical communication channel for any public education campaign.