Survey: Albemarle residents willing to spend more on roads

More than half of Albemarle County residents would be open to paying taxes specifically for transportation needs, according to a new survey that underscores the demand for roads, education and rescue services.

The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors was briefed Wednesday on results from the 2008 survey, conducted by the University of Virginia’s Center for Survey Research. Among the findings, 27.7 percent of residents strongly favor spending more local taxes on roads, and 42.6 percent “somewhat” favor the additional expenditure. 
Albemarle residents have been surveyed since 2002 about quality of life, safety and government services, among other things. However, this year’s biennial survey, conducted from Aug. 20 through Sept. 14, also included questions about taxes residents are willing to pay for services.

Of those who responded to a question of whether they’d be willing to pay taxes to fund transportation, 48.8 percent said “yes” and 9.4 percent gave a conditional “yes.”  About 40 percent said “no.”
“I think this is an extremely important finding,” said Thomas Guterbock, founder of the Center for Survey Research, which is a unit of the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at UVa.
The survey, in accordance with the county’s strategic plan, is designed to give an honest assessment of areas where residents are and are not satisfied, county spokeswoman Lee Catlin said.

A younger audience

The most significant procedural change for this year’s survey, which cost the county about $43,000, was that cell phones were also randomly dialed. A total of 767 residents participated in the randomly dialed phone interviews, and the survey has a margin of error of 3.8 percent. Of this year’s respondents, 21.5 percent were younger than 35, compared with 16.2 percent in 2006. 
Cell phone users are more likely to be younger residents, minorities, unmarried and residency renters, Guterbock said, and previous surveys didn’t accurately represent those groups.
“The old method was inaccurate,” Guterbock said.

When residents were asked to rank Albemarle County as a place to live on a scale of one to 10, the mean was 8.01, nearly identical to the rating residents gave in past surveys. Overall, 92.8 percent of residents are somewhat or very satisfied with county services, up from 90.6 percent in 2006 and from 84.3 percent in 1994. The satisfaction rate was highest for fire protection and lowest for recycling services.
Approximately 58.4 percent of surveyed residents said they were satisfied with the fairness of the county’s property tax assessments, compared with 70.2 percent in 2006, which Guterbock attributes largely to the incorporation of cell phones in the survey. Satisfaction with emergency rescue services declined to 92.5 percent, down from 96.8 percent in 2006.
There were significant increases in satisfaction with the county’s efforts to protect and preserve its rural character, protect natural resources and the environment, make it easier to travel by car and ensure safety in business areas.
Only 72.7 percent of respondents were satisfied with their experience contacting the county, which Guterbock said is “something that still needs work.”

Education still trumps

Residents said providing quality education is the most important service on which to spend tax dollars. About 95 percent said that it’s very important to spend tax dollars on education.
Ranked the least important initiatives on which to spend tax dollars were: supporting cultural and entertainment opportunities; promoting tourism; regulating outdoor lighting to reduce light pollution and glare; and preserving historic buildings.
Providing support for people in financial need also was ranked among the lowest priorities. In framing those results, it’s important to note that providing assistance to the needy isn’t something that directly benefits most respondents, Supervisor David L. Slutzky said. However, Supervisor Dennis S. Rooker said the same thing could be said about tourism.

Previous survey results have been cited often by officials when arguing policy decisions. The full survey report is scheduled for release in December.