Survey Results

I wanted to begin to post the results from the surveys that over 600 of our constituents returned. Below is a statistical breakdown of Question #1: “In light of the declining tax revenues please rank from 1 to 10 the following state programs, with 1 being the highest.”  They are presented in the order that you ranked them as being the most important issues.

Public Education

Public Education came out topping all of the others. 56.4% of the respondents labeled it their 1st or 2nd most pressing concern. Only 4.3% gave no answer and the standard deviation was a low 2.39, showing more agreement with this issue than some of the others.

Health Care

Health Care came in second with only 3.3% not giving a response and 35.4% rating it as their 1st or 2nd greatest concern. The standard deviation was a low 2.21 showing a high amount of harmony in the opinions expressed.

Economic Development

Economic Development came in 3rd with 29.8% of respondents listing this as their 1st or 2nd most important issue. Only 4.3% did not respond to this question and the standard deviation was a low 2.42, showing fair harmony concerning this issue.

Public Safety

Public Safety & Corrections came in 4th with only 3.6% not giving an opinion. 18.6% of respondents listed this as their 1st or 2nd most concerning issue. This one also had a low standard deviation of 2.27 thus showing more harmony than some other responses.

Immigration

Illegal Immigration came in 5th place with 18.4% of respondents listing this as their 1st or 2nd most important concern. However, this question was not given an answer by 9.7% and was less harmonious between respondents with a standard deviation of 3.22.

Higher Education

Higher Education came in 6th place with 17.3% of the respondents choosing this as their 1st or 2nd most important concern. 7.4% did not give an answer yet the standard deviation was relatively low at 2.55.

Environmental Quality

Environmental Quality took 7th place with 15.8% of the respondents selecting it as the 1st or 2nd most important area and 6.4% giving no answer. The standard deviation was a relatively low 2.56.

Transportation

Transportation came in with 9.2% of respondents choosing it as their 1st or 2nd most important issue. 4.8% did not give an answer and the standard deviation was a low 2.37.

Rainy Day Funds

From comments often made on the forms, Rainy Day Funds did not seem to be well understood. Most written comments said to use it because it is a rainy day. Yet a large 13.5% gave no answer and the standard deviation grew to 3.15. Only 2.8% of respondents listed this as their 1st or 2nd most important concerns.

Conclusion

Let me know if you find this information useful or interesting. We will continue to share the results.  If you are interested I will look into posting a link to a spreadsheet with  the numbers we used for the statistical analysis (in other words, data without identifying information).