Poll finds Rhode Islanders unhappy with high taxes

PROVIDENCE, R.I. --A majority of Rhode Islanders think that their taxes are too high, and many are unhappy with the performance of state government in critical areas, including money management, according to a poll by a business-financed research and advocacy group.

The Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council commissioned the survey, which mostly focused on the public's opinion of taxes.

It showed that 75 percent of residents polled think their taxes are too high. Eighty-eight percent said the government isn't doing enough to keep them low.

The poll also gauged support for a proposed constitutional amendment that would limit the growth of state government. RIPEC is one of a number of organizations planning to cooperate on a public campaign to promote the spending-control amendment.

When respondents were asked whether Rhode Island was headed in the right direction, just as many residents that said it was, said it wasn't. The right track/wrong track question measures the mood of the electorate, said Chris Anderson, a senior researcher at Opinion Dynamics, which conducted the poll for RIPEC.

The survey also measured state government's performance on the environment, education, economy, health care for the poor and elderly, bridges and roads and management of state finances. The majority of those surveyed gave the state a "fair" or "poor" rating in those categories.

The public is more satisfied with the state's efforts to maintain public safety, with 56 percent saying the effort has been good or excellent and 42 percent, fair or poor.

RIPEC's executive director Gary Sasse said Rhode Islanders do not believe they are getting good value from the government in the areas most important to them. Education, health care and taxes were the top three most important state functions, poll participants said.

The poll, conducted by telephone from Jan. 5-8, sampled 400 registered voters. There was a margin error of 4.9.

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Information from: The Providence Journal, http://www.projo.com/