1

Public Opinion and Issues in Anne Arundel County:

A Leadership Anne Arundel Presentation

November 15, 2006

by

Dan Nataf, Ph.DDirector, Center for the Study of Local Issues

Anne Arundel Community College101 College Parkway

Arnold, MD 21012(410) 777-2733

(410) 777-4733 fax

ddnataf@aacc.edu

www2.aacc.edu/csli

2

The Center for the Study of Local Issues: Overview

• CSLI conducts public interest and private surveys each semester (since 1978)

• Respondents randomly chosen from universe of listed telephone numbers combined with computer generated numbers

• Typical sample size: 300-525 respondents; students used as interviewers – Fall, 2006 – 382 respondents

• Each survey includes demographic and attitude/behavior questions, including such themes as:

– Growth/Development– Transportation– Economic conditions– Education– Tax and spending preferences– Policy preferences

• Visit CSLI’s web site for previous surveys (www2.aacc.edu/csli)

3

The Center for the Study of

Local Issues: Web Site

- Homepage

www2.aacc.edu/csli

4

Most Important Issues Facing AA County Residents – 1995-2006 - Trends for Major Issue Areas

Most Important Issue - Trends

28

19 19 20

1315

1013

97 6

8 9 8

1513

24

31

26

31 30 30

25

29

2118

3128

36

25

34

Crime

Crime 31%

9Taxes

Growth/Transp

Education

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Sp ‘97

Fa ‘97

Sp ‘98

Fa ‘98

Sp ‘99

Fa '99

Sp ‘00

Fa ‘00

Sp ‘01

Fa '01

Sp '02

Fa '02

Sp '03

Fa '03

Sp '04

Fa '04

Sp '05

Fa '05

Sp '06

Fa '06

5

• Economic optimism – “Thinking about our county's economy, how would you rate economic conditions in Anne Arundel County today -- excellent, good, only fair, or poor?”

Focus on the Economy: Opportunities with Inflation and Growth Management Anxieties

Economic Conditions: Local and National

3826 27 22

34 34 31 28 38 41

7474717474

625655

74 76

0

20

40

60

80

100

Spring2002

Fall 2002

Spring2003

Fall 2003

Spring2004

Fall2004

Spring2005

Fall2005

Spring2006

Fall2006

AACounty -Exc+Good

Nation -Exc+Good

National

County

6

Economic Optimism - Perception of Issues in 2010

Negative expectations for all major issue areas except economy

Better

About the same

Worse

Fall 2004 Better-Worse

The overall quality of life in the County

33 43 20 13

Spiritual or religious life 27 47 15 12 Economic conditions 33 40 23 10

Family life 27 45 20 7 General responsiveness of County

government to citizens’ needs 23 47 20 3

Ethics in local government 20 44 26 -6 Public schools 28 28 36 -8

Health care 24 32 36 -12 Growth and development 30 20 46 -16

Crime 11 42 42 -31 Water and air quality 17 32 49 -32

Local taxes 5 26 64 -59 Traffic congestion 3 5 92 -89

7

Economic Anxiety - Concerns about the cost of living

Cost factor Very serious

Somewhat serious

Not very serious

No answer

The cost of housing 65 23 11 0

The cost of utilities such as

electricity or natural gas

63 29 8 0

The cost of gasoline 62 30 8 0

The cost of health care 58 28 11 2

Not having enough money for retirement

57 24 16 3

The cost of education 51 29 16 5

The cost of property taxes 49 37 12 2

8

Anxiety unevenly spread: Income and % saying “very serious”

Housing Cost 0-$50,000

$50,001 to

$100,000

$100,001 and over

Overall

Health Care 79 63 46 60

Money for Retirement

73 64 43 59

Gasoline 70 62 53 62

Education 64 54 47 54

Housing 76 66 61 65

Property taxes 53 55 40 50

Utilities 65 65 55 64Poorest-Richest

10

13

15

17

17

30

33

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Utilities

Property Taxes

Housing

Education

Gasoline

Money for Retirement

Health Care

9

Age and % saying “very serious”

18-29 30-44 45-59 60 + Overall

Utilities Cost 52 57 64 77 64

Property Taxes 43 44 50 61 50

Gasoline 65 56 59 69 62

Housing 67 66 63 65 65

Health Care 66 55 59 62 60

Money for Retirement

65 62 52 58 59

Education 67 48 48 58 54Oldest-Youngest

-9

-7

-4

-2

4

18

25

-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Education

Money for Retirement

Health Care

Housing

Gasoline

Property Taxes

Utilities

10

Gender and % saying “very serious”

Item Women Men Overall

Gasoline 70 54 62

Money for Retirement

63 53 59

Utilities Cost

68 59 64

Housing 69 61 65

Education 57 50 54

Health Care

62 56 60

Property Taxes

53 48 50

5

6

7

8

9

10

16

0 5 10 15 20

Property Taxes

Health Care

Education

Housing

Utilities

Money forRetirement

Gasoline

11

Race and % saying “very serious”

African-Americans

Whites Overall

Gasoline 78 59 62

Health Care 73 58 60

Money for Retirement

69 57 59

Housing 71 64 65

Education 57 53 54

Utilities Cost

67 64 64

Property Taxes

50 48 50

Af-Am/Whites and Costs

2

3

4

7

12

15

19

0 5 10 15 20

Property taxes

Utilities

Education

Housing

Money for Retirement

Health Care

Gasoline

12

Attribute cited Percentage

Purchase priceMedian: $150-175,000

39%

A type that is lacking in AA County

20%

Housing type – apartments, townhouses, section 8

19%

User type – low income, poor 9%

Other 12%

Total 100%

What is “affordable housing?” Fall 2002

Is the lack of affordable housing in Anne Arundel County a problem?

Yes 54% No 34% Don’t know 12%

13

Main Economic Challenge for the Next Decade (Fall 2005)

Challenge % Citing

Managing growth/development 31

Providing affordable housing 19Providing proper skills/education for workers

19

Infrastructure, roads 10 Providing enough jobs 9Govt. budget problems/services 3Gas prices 2Taxes 2Other 5

14

Effectiveness of County Growth Policies (Fall 2004)

How effective have County policies been regarding growth and planning?

6

4038

16

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40 Very effective     

Somewhat effective 

Not very effective

Don't know

15

Approaches for Managing Growth/Transportation (Fall 1998)

Approach to growth and transportation Yes No

Build or upgrade highly congested roads and intersections in the county

77 13

Create a local jitney bus service 71 21

Increase bus availability to major cities (Balt/DC) 69 22

Make it easier to get o MARC trains 67 20

Make it easier to find other people with whom to carpool 63 26

Severely limit new residential development – higher impact fees

54 33

Put moratorium on new residential development in your area 53 35

Reduce fares on public transportation 52 28

Allow more intense development of areas well served by public transportation

43 45

16

Confidence in/perceived preparedness of local authorities – meet challenges or terrorist strike/natural disasters (Fall 2005)

Preparedness/

Confidence

Econ. Environ. Terror Disaster

Very 8 7 11 11

Somewhat 45 38 42 49

Not very 41 50 44 36

No answer 7 6 3 4

17

1015 12

52 4942

46

3022 24 27

44

33 32

94 7 9121513 15

11

Very prepared, 16

4854

4847Somewhat prepared

Not very prepared

37

611

5 8Unsure , 30

10

20

30

40

50

60

Public Opinion in Anne Arundel County: Recent Trends

How prepared are local authorities in event of terrorist strike – 2001-2006

Katrina

18

Crime Problem 1999-2005

Crime Problem: % saying Major, Moderate, Minor

23

11 1217

56 6066

1626

010203040506070

1999 2002 2005

Major

Moderate

Minor

19

Crime: Safety and Security in County and Neighborhood (2005)

19 18

3022

5563

7771

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1997 1999 2002 2005

% S

ayin

g "

Ver

y S

afe"

County

Neighborhood

20

Crime: Been a Victim of Crime? (1997-2005)

% Saying "Yes"

14

12

9

12

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

1997 1999 2002 2005

21

Crime: Improve Safety (Average 1997-2005)

One Thing to Most Improve Safety

5

6

6

7

8

9

37

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Traffic, catch speeders

Deal better with minors , in schools , youth activities

Improve police training, methods, follow-up

Harsher sentences , lock up criminals

Deal with drug problems

More prevention, neighborhood patrols

More Police, Vis ibility

22

Education – Perceived Value to Taxpayers? Spend more, same or less on public service? (Spring 2004)

Service More%

Same%

Less %

Don’t% know

Public schools 71 23 5 1

Police 60 35 4 1

Fire 53 43 2 2

Community college 46 44 7 3

Seniors’ services 44 45 7 4

Roads 43 49 6 3

Average percentage 41 46 11 3

Environmental programs

39 44 15 2

Social services 34 43 17 5

Health department 32 54 9 5

Libraries 26 67 6 1

Parks and recreation 26 57 16 2

Planning and zoning 13 42 39 7

23

Would proposals help, hurt or have no effect on the quality of public schools

(Spring 1996) Help Hurt No effect

Help Hurt No effect

Add Teaching Aides in Classrooms

91 1 7 Increase Local Community Control over Schools

69 11 20

 Reduce Class Size 89 2 9 Provide More Elective Courses in Higher Grades

66 13 21

Give Teachers More Power when Dealing with Disruptive Students

86 8 7 Allow more variety in the curriculum

60 15 24

Emphasize a "Return to Basics" Approach to Education

86 5 9 Change the School Board selection process

60 8 33

 Provide More Assistance to Special Education

85 4 10 Provide More Financial Assistance to Schools doing Poorly on Standardized Tests

55 13 31

 Encourage Flexibility in Teaching Methods

83 9 8 Add some Specialized Programs 52 15 33

 Increase Teacher Salaries 82 3 15 Introduce School Prayers 52 17 31

Start some Countywide "Magnet" Schools

79 7 14 Place Some Schools on a Year Round Schedule

49 24 27

 Create a Special High School for Disruptive Students

76 13 12 Redistrict schools more frequently

26 39 36

24

How to pay for all the public wants government to do?If the County ends the year with a surplus, which of the following would you

prefer to see happen? (Fall 2005)

Proposal %

The County spends it on high priority areas 28

The County keeps it for a ‘rainy day’ when it might be needed, such as an emergency

19

The County sends it back to taxpayers as a tax refund 15

The County uses it to lower taxes next year 30

Other answer 5

No answer, unsure 2

25

General orientation – cut programs or cut spending? (Spring 2003, Fall 2003)

Proposal Spring 2003 Fall 2003

Cut programs 40 34

Increase taxes 36 34

Other -- 18

Don’t know 24 14

Total 100 100

26

Revenue enhancement – Income taxes (Spring 2003, Fall 2003)

Approach Favor Oppose Unsure

Increase income taxes for everyone

An increase in state income taxes 26 72 3

Increasing the County’s local income tax rate 24 72 5

Increase income taxes on business and the “rich”

Increasing the corporate income tax rate by 1 percent

63 35 2

Placing a 3 percent surcharge on the income tax of people who make $500,000 or more annually

73 26 1

27

Revenue enhancement – Sales/gasoline taxes (Spring 2003, Fall 2003)

Favor Oppose Unsure

Increase the state sales tax by 1 percent, from 5 to 6 percent

31 66 2

An increase in the general sales tax 46 53 2

An increase in the state gasoline tax 29 69 2

Higher taxes on gasoline to encourage use of more fuel efficient vehicles (Fall 2005)

20 76 4

28

Revenue enhancement – User/Specific Fees (Fall 2003)

Approach Favor Oppose Unsure

Creating specific taxes to fund County public safety such as fire & police County

53 43 5

Increasing impact fees on new housing development in AA

65 30 5

Creating a $2.50 surcharge on monthly sewage fees to help upgrade waste water treatment plants

65 31 4

Legalizing slot machines in Maryland 62 33 6

29

Expenditure reduction (Spring 2003)

Approach Favor Oppose Unsure

Postponing fully funding the Thornton Plan for public education

32 47 20

Layoffs of state and County employees 26 69 6

Reducing salaries of state employees 14 81 5

Cutting back on state services 16 77 7

Reducing financial support for higher education

18 78 4

30

Expenditure reduction – Identify ways to cut govt. spending (open-ended) (Spring 2003)

Approach (N=85) Favor Cases

Reduce government salaries 15 13

Reduce politicians salaries 12 10

Reduce government perks 7 6

Cut waste, administration 11 9

Cut back on specific programs 39 33

Other miscellaneous 16 14

Total 100 85

31

Politics of Taxes and Expenditures) (Support for County Executive Candidates’ on Certain Issues (Fall, 2006)

24 25 24 24

1922

24

30

24

14

24

17

26

22

2926

16 16 17

11

52

59

5154

52 52

60

54

59

75

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Johnson

Leopold

Undecided