2009 Policy Survey Results (Financial Issues)

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City of Louisville Policy Survey August 2009 Survey Findings The first few questions on the 2009 Policy Survey asked registered voters their thoughts on the overall quality of life and economic health in Louisville. Generally,voters were happy with the quality of life in Louisville,with nearly all respondents saying it was "excellent" or"good." Eight in 10 respondents felt that they got an "excellent" or"good" value of services for the taxes paid to the City and about three-quarters (72%) felt the overall economic health of the city was "good" or better. Registered voters were asked to rate their current financial status and to gauge what impact,if any, the economy would have on their family income in the following six months. A majority of respondents said that their finances were about the same as they were a year ago and predicted their finances would be about the same a year from now. Very few respondents (14%) reported that they were "much" or"somewhat better" off financially than they were a year ago, and twice as many voters felt they would be at least"somewhat better" off financially a year from now. Nine in 10 voters thought there would be either no economic impact (46%) or a negative impact (47%) on their household income in the next six months; only 7% felt there would be a positive impact. When asked to evaluate the current property and sales tax rates in Louisville, a majority of respondents felt that they were "about right" (63% and 64%,respectively). About one-quarter felt that the property and sales tax rates in the city were a"little too high" and 1 in 10 or fewer felt that they were "much too high." Survey respondents were asked to state their preference for service reductions or tax increases should the gap between the City's costs and revenues widen. Voters were split on their preference, with 54% saying they would rather see a reduction in service levels than have their taxes raised or a new tax implemented, and 46% stating they preferred a tax increase. All respondents were asked whether or not they would support or oppose reductions in the levels of service for seven different areas. The most support was for eliminating or reducing activities at community events (65% "strongly" or"somewhat" support), followed by reducing maintenance and acquisition of open space (59%). Half of respondents were in support of reducing services related to parks (49% support),recreation (49%) and the library (47%). Fewer voters supported reducing transportation services and police and municipal courts (33% and 29% support,respectively). The strongest opposition was for reducing service levels related to transportation and police and municipal courts (35% and 37% "strongly" oppose,respectively). As mirrored in the findings of support or opposition for service reductions,when asked to select the two services they would choose to reduce, community events and open space topped the list of services with about half of respondents selecting these at the top one or two services to reduce. Transportation and parks were the services voters were less likely to select for service reductions, with police and courts rounding out the bottom three. Overall,less than a quarter of registered voters "strongly" supported any of the tax increases or new taxes or fees options. If the City were to ask voters to approve a tax increase or a new tax or fee to cover rising costs, 62% of respondents reported they would be most likely to support a new residential building use tax. Half(48% "strongly" or"somewhat" support) said they would support a new transportation fee,46% supported a new consumer use tax and 42% supported a sales tax increase. The lowest support was shown for a property tax increase,with just over one-third 0 supporting this tax. When asked to select the two taxes they would most prefer, the relative order ° was similar to the amount of support shown for each new tax or tax increase. Most respondents Report of Results 2