Center For California Studies

Civic Engagement and Local Fiscal Attitudes: 2013 Survey of CaliforniansDavid Barker, Director, Institute for Social Research

Kim Nalder, Director, Project for an Informed Electorate

Additional Survey Team MembersMichael SmallResearch Analyst, Institute for Social Research Edward LascherDean, Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary StudiesProfessor, Department of Public Policy and Administration Kelly NelsonGraduate Research AssistantInstitute for Social Research Ted RyanGraduate Research AssistantInstitute for Social Research

Research Questions•At the municipal level, do Californians tend to prioritize balanced budgets, low taxes, or public services?

•What specific municipal services do Californians prioritize over others?

•How knowledgeable and sophisticated is the average Californian when it comes to municipal budgets (e.g. where the money goes)?

•How engaged and participatory are Californians in local politics and civic affairs?

•How do civic knowledge and engagement – individually and in conjunction – influence fiscal attitudes/priorities?

Methodology• Random Digit Dialing Phone Survey (30% cell);• April 4th-May 8th, 2013;• 938 interviews of California city/town dwellers,

from 30 cities/towns;• Randomized counties from four regions (southern-

coastal, northern -coastal, southern-inland, northern-inland);

• Randomized cities and towns for inclusion from within each county -- weighting according to size and population patterns;

• Excluded residents of non-incorporated areas. 

Methodology, Continued• Obtained public information regarding fiscal

solvency of each city/town:(a) 2012 expenditures-revenues(b) overall debt 

DemographicsAge, Residence, Education, and Income

Our average respondent: is 50 years old has lived in his/her town for 20 years has “some college” experience earns $49,000 per year

DemographicsGender, Race, Ethnicity

• 56% of sample respondents are women • 53% are non-Hispanic Whites • 30% are Hispanic • 4% are African American • 5% are Asian American • 2% are Native American • 7% are Multi-Racial

DemographicsParty ID (self report)

• Democrats 45%• Republicans 26%• Independents 29%

Leaners• Democrats and Democratic “Leaners”

48%• Republicans and Republican “Leaners” 33%• “Pure” Independents 19%

What do People Prefer? Low Taxes vs. Balanced Budget

What Do People Prefer?Services vs. Balanced Budget

Summary:Balanced Budget vs. Low Taxes /Investment in

Services• Surprisingly few differences by party

identification, attentiveness to local news, or gender.

• 35% prioritize balancing the budget over either other priority

• 35% prefer either option (keeping taxes low OR maintaining services) over balancing the budget.

• 30% prefer budgetary balance to one option but not the other.

Spending on Public Safety:

Spending on Infrastructure, Like Roads:

Spending on Public Enrichment, Like Parks:

Spending on Public Employee Benefits, Like Pensions:

On What Do People Want to Spend?Spending on Economic Development, Like Business Subsidies

Local Sales Taxes: Too High or Too Low?

Fiscal Attitudes and Priorities: Local SpendingWhen summing the five spending priority items:• 58% want to increase spending, on balance.• 24% want to cut spending, on balance.Also• 23% illogically want a tax cut and more spending.• 35% pick the liberal option – no tax cut and increased

services.• 21% want no change.• 21% want the conservative option of a tax cut and no

spending increase.

Municipal Civic Engagement• 67% reported voting in the last election (likely

inflated due to social desirability bias).

• 20% reported having contacted a local public official either by letter, phone, or e-mail in the last year.

Municipal Civic Attitudes• Approval of Public Officials• Trust in Local Public Officials• Perceived Competence of Local

Officials• Efficacy (the sense that citizens can

influence outcomes)

Approval: City Council, Mayor, Governor

Strongly Approve Approve Disapprove Strongly Disapprove Not Sure0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

4

45

24

4

22

5

46

16

5

26

6

39

29

15

11

City Council Mayor

Governor

Trust in City Officials

Competence

Efficacy (Disagree = Efficacious)

Attentiveness• 62% claim to have followed local public affairs in

the news on at least 5 days “last week.• 52% claim to have done do on 6 or more days.• 48% claim to have followed local news every day

last week.• Only 11% admit to not following local news at all

last week.

--- We suspect that these numbers are inflated.

Fiscal KnowledgeWe asked five questions to gauge fiscal political

knowledge:

• Is your city budget in surplus, deficit, or balance?• What is your city’s sales tax rate, roughly? • Was the state budget last year in surplus, deficit, or

balance?• Has this year’s state budget improved, stayed the same,

or gotten worse?• A spending jurisdiction question with only one right

answer.

We then constructed an index for local knowledge (3 questions) and overall fiscal knowledge (all 5 questions).

Fiscal Knowledge• 25% correctly identified their city/town

budget situation.• 65% were within a few points of getting

the sales tax question correct (defined as between 7% and 10%).

• 57% knew that the state’s budget was in deficit last year.

• Only 17% knew that the state’s budget situation has improved in 2013.

Fiscal Knowledge: Spending

Local Fiscal Knowledge

Overall Fiscal Knowledge Index

Patterns: Civic Fiscal Knowledge

More Knowledge More Engagement More Knowledge/ More Engagement Sm. Pref. Less

Spend• More Knowledge Prefer Higher Taxes • More Knowledge City/Town in Deficit • When in Deficit, Knowledge/Engagement Fiscal

Conservatism– Weaker when Informed but not Engaged– Non-existent when Engaged but not Informed

• Knowledge Logical Consistency Across Questions, especially when in Deficit

Other Patterns

• Engagement Less Logical Attitudes (Among Those Living in Deficit)

• When Deficit, Fiscal Conserv. Mayor/Council Disapproval.

Questions?