Montgomery County Voters Prefer Tax Increases Over Spending Cuts, Says Poll

3/20/2003

From: Steve Hill, 301-565-0505 Patrick Gonzales, 410-974-4669

SILVER SPRING, Md., March 20 -- The Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute today released the results of a poll that assesses the attitudes and opinions of Montgomery County voters on a variety of issues related to the quality of life as well as the county budget. The telephone poll of 401 voters selected at random was conducted by Gonzales/Arscott Research & Communications between March 4th and 5th.

The poll, conducted prior to the budget submission of Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan, shows support for increases in taxes rather than cuts in services to balance the county budget and maintain service levels.

Among the highlights:

Three-quarters of voters are satisfied with the quality of services that they receive in relation to the county taxes paid.

A majority (58 percent) of voters support an increase in the property tax rate if the increased revenues are for both transportation and education.

Seven out of eight voters would oppose reductions in education to balance the budget.

"This poll shows that Montgomery County voters like the services that they receive, and are willing to pay more in taxes to avoid reductions in services," said Institute director Steve Hill.

Survey results generally support the actions proposed by County Executive Doug Duncan, with two exceptions. Duncan proposed increasing the property tax to support transportation improvements. However, a minority of voters would support a property tax increase for transportation alone.

A majority support an increase in the property tax only if the proceeds support both transportation and education.

Also, overwhelmingly, county voters opposed cuts in education to balance the budget.

In addition to support for a limited property tax increase, voters expressed support for a tax on cell phone use (61.1 percent favor with 38.7 percent opposed) as well as a local energy tax (64.6 percent favor with 33.7 percent opposed), particularly when the burden for those taxes fell primarily on employers and federal agencies respectively.

A detailed summary and analysis of the poll is available upon request.

Poll results are available online at http://www.marylandpolicy.org