Poll: Most support runoff fee, but split on surplus, park
By DAVID ABRAMS, Staff Writer
Most county residents support a fee to repair stormwater runoff damage, but they are split on what to do with a county government budget surplus and a proposal to build a state horse park at the old Naval Academy dairy farm, according to a poll released yesterday.
Fifty-six percent of those surveyed by the Anne Arundel Community College Center for the Study of Local Issues said they approve of creating a $60 fee to remove pollutants from streams and rivers, while 38 percent said they didn't support the idea and 6 percent gave no answer.
The county is reviewing the proposal and environmentalists have been pressing for it, but no bill has been proposed. County Executive Janet S. Owens said yesterday while she's not firmly opposed to the idea, it will take time to figure out how to structure it. Her legal staff tells her it's a "tax" that could conflict with the county's property tax revenue cap.
"Working out the details of how it works and who is involved in it is tricky," Ms. Owens said, adding that people still call her with questions about the new $7.50 quarterly charge they pay for the state's "flush fee."
The poll included phone interviews of 417 people between Oct. 24 and 27, with a margin of error of plus or minus 5 points.
"The thought is that by asking these questions the county can really reveal itself so we can better sense what feelings are out there in the county," said Dan Nataf, the center's director.
The results were less clear on how to spend the county's $76 million surplus. Thirty percent said cut taxes, while 28 percent said spend it in priority areas, 19 percent said hold on to it for an emergency and 15 percent said give the money back to the taxpayers in a refund.
Unfortunately for refund seekers, the county already has budgeted that money for spending, Ms. Owens said. This year's budget uses the surplus money to decrease or erase backlogs in park renovations, schools projects and roads.
Ms. Owens said she fears that her replacement when her term expires next year might have to raise the county's income tax. New contracts for 10 different unions will be due in 2007, she said.
County residents were also split on a proposal to build a state horse park for recreational riding and show events, with 44 percent in favor, 43 percent against it and 13 percent giving no answer.
Mr. Nataf said those results indicate the jury is still out on the horse park in Gambrills. The state is still developing a design and analyzing the economics of bringing a facility to Anne Arundel County.
"Right now, it's a question if whether it even sounds tantalizing conceptually," Mr. Nataf said. "We don't know the cost."
In other findings, 58 percent said they support a proposal that failed in the state General Assembly to promote embryonic stem cell research, while 34 percent opposed the idea and 8 percent gave no answer.
"It's a pretty strong endorsement," Mr. Nataf said of the results for the new fee and stem cell research. "I was a little surprised with the stem cells, not knowing at all where we would end up with that one."
To review the entire poll, visit www.aacc.edu/csl.
Published November 03, 2005, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
Copyright © 2005 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
