Okay, so now the Buffalo News has reported on what voters told pollsters about whether they’d support public funding for a Bills stadium, and it’s not quite as rosy as last week’s reports on how many people just like new stadiums in general:
In a random scientific poll that showed a clear majority favoring a new facility and a downtown location for it, some 48 percent of voters polled said taxpayers should pay some of the costs for the Bills’ new home. That’s exactly the same percentage of people who said the public should pay none of the costs.
None of the 505 voters surveyed between Jan. 20 and 21 said the public should pay the total cost of a new football palace, which is expected to cost upward of $1 billion. And only 1 percent said the public should pay most of the costs.
This is no surprise, of course — if anything, it’s a bit puzzling that that many people would voluntarily say that they should be on the hook for part of the cost of a stadium, though I suppose years of “public-private partnership” talk has softened up the populace, especially when the question is just whether “some” of the costs should be borne by taxpayers. (“Some? Does that include one dollar? I could be in for one dollar.”) In fact, a better question — or set of questions — would have been “Would you still support a Bills stadium if the public is asked to pay X% of the costs?” since that’s likely to be the decision that local lawmakers will need to decide on. Maybe next poll, if there is a next poll.
As a resident of the great state of New York (see Park Avenue), I’m not split. Spend, spend, spend, taxpayers!