Extra taxes for services?

By Brandon Shulleeta

Published: August 23, 2008

Are Albemarle residents willing to pay more taxes for certain government services?

That’s what researchers want to know.

Albemarle County residents have been surveyed since 2002 about the quality of life, safety and government services. However, a biennial survey that began last week also includes questions about the costs residents are willing to pay for services, said county spokeswoman Lee Catlin.

“It gives the Board [of Supervisors] a clearer picture,” she said.

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, Catlin said.

“Albemarle County citizens never hesitate to speak their minds and tell us what they think, and that’s exactly what we want in a survey,” said Thomas Guterbock, founder of the Center for Survey Research, which is a unit of the Weldon Cooper Center of Public Service at the University of Virginia.

Officials could not reveal the questions of the 2008 survey because it could taint respondents’ answers, but they said many of the questions are similar to those asked in 2006. It’s expected to take about a month to finish surveying residents.

The 2006 questions related to everything from education, public safety and the environment, to questions gauging the use of county information systems.

The data collected from the survey help shape policy decisions, Albemarle Board of Supervisors member Sally H. Thomas said. Past surveys, among other things, have shown that residents have a strong interest in the environment, she said.

Two years ago, 81 percent of respondents said that it was “very important” to protect natural resources. Seventy-three percent of respondents said that the county’s efforts in providing recycling services were important, but only 57 percent were satisfied with the county’s level of recycling services.

Education was ranked as the highest service priority for residents in 2006.

The mean rating from respondents on the “quality of life” in the county was 8.04 — on a scale of 1 to 10 — almost identical to results in 2002 and 2004, as well as a survey done in 1994.

The research center does similar surveys for Spotsylvania and Prince William counties, among other localities, Guterbock said.

In 2006, 787 residents participated in the survey. The survey’s margin of error was 3.6 percent.

This year’s survey will cost Albemarle about $43,000, said Lori Allshouse, the county’s manager of strategic planning and performance.

The most significant procedural change for this year’s survey is that cell phones will also by randomly dialed, Guterbock said.

Including cell phones will give surveyors a more realistic sample of the population, because more people — especially younger residents — don’t use landlines, Allshouse said.