Residents point to gambling to solve revenue shortfall
May 16, 2008
Seacoast Online
DURHAM — Don’t raise our property taxes or establish an income or sales tax.
A poll released Monday revealed Granite State residents may not be paying too much attention to the budget crisis in Concord — but are quite sure raising property taxes would be the worst thing lawmakers could do to remedy the educational funding dilemma and state revenue shortfalls.
Learn more: Read UNH Survey Center poll at www.unh.edu/survey-center/news/pdf/gsp2008_spring_tax51208.pdf
The University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll showed, by an overwhelming majority, residents do not want to see the addition of a broad-based income or sales tax — but they are more open to an expansion of legal gambling to help the state boost its revenues.
Despite a potential $200 million shortfall in the state budget ending in June 2009, only 17 percent of Granite State residents said they have heard a lot about the state’s budget difficulties.
“A sales tax or income tax doesn’t seem to be going anywhere,” said Andy Smith, director of the Survey Center. “It doesn’t make the job of the state Legislature any easier.”
The House was expected to vote on a budget cutting and revenue enhancement plan this week that includes multi-million dollar cuts in the legislative and judicial branches — and a plan to raise cigarette taxes by 25 cents a pack if sales don’t increase substantially by October.
According to the survey of 500 adults, residents are reluctant to enact major changes to augment the state’s revenue system from a combination of business taxes, rooms and meals taxes, revenues from the sales of cigarettes, alcohol, and lottery tickets — and a statewide property tax for primary and secondary education.
When asked which change in state funding would be most harmful to the state’s quality of life, 37 percent said an increase in property taxes, followed by an income tax at 19 percent, sales tax at 18 percent, expanded legal gambling at racetracks 14 percent, and decreasing state services at 11 percent.
“Legalized gambling is the least (politically) unpopular of the revenue options,” Smith said. Independents and Republicans preferred expanded gambling at 37 and 44 percent respectively as the best choice to increase revenues — while 33 percent of Democrats supported an income tax.