County ‘electeds’ express record pessimism on nation’s course
Fifty-five percent of county elected officials believe the nation is on the “wrong track,” the highest percentage in the four-year history of NACo’s National County Elected Officials Poll.
While that number is a record, county officials were more optimistic than the public at-large. Seventy-two percent of the general public said America is on the wrong track, according to a separate CBS/New York Times survey conducted in May.
“The 2007 national survey of county elected officials shows that county officials are concerned about the same issues as the general public: the war in Iraq, health care, immigration, the economy and energy prices,” said Richard Clark, Ph.D. of the National Center for the Study of Counties (NCSC).
The survey was conducted by NACo and NCSC, based at the University of Georgia. Results were released at NACo’s recent Annual Conference and Exposition in Richmond, Va.
Iraq War affecting counties
Given county officials’ concerns about national issues, it is perhaps not surprising that their “wrong track” index is up.
Forty-three percent of county officials cited national security issues, including the war in Iraq and terrorism, as the most important problem facing the United States today; 29 percent specifically said that the war in Iraq is the most important problem facing the country. No other single issue came close to being cited as often.
When asked if the war had affected county services by calling county service providers into military service, 65 percent of county officials said that there had been at least a small effect — with 10 percent saying that the war has had a great effect on county services.
Concern about Iraq has clearly been increasing; as recently as 2005, Iraq was mentioned as the most important problem by only 12 percent of respondents.
Illegal immigration a major concern
Sixty-seven percent of county officials said that illegal immigration is a “very serious” problem for the United States; another 27 percent deemed it “serious.”
Of those polled, 66 percent of officials agreed that “illegal immigrants cost the taxpayers too much by using government services.” Meanwhile, only 31 percent agreed with the statement that, in the long run, illegal immigrants become productive citizens and pay their fair share of taxes.
Most county officials favored addressing illegal immigration locally by fining businesses that hire illegal immigrants and fining landlords who rent to illegal immigrants: 69 percent favored fining businesses, while 55 percent would penalize landlords.
While officials generally took a hard line on enforcement, they were not without compassion. Sixty-two percent of county officials expressed support for creating a temporary worker program in order to legalize the status of current illegal immigrants.
Lack of health insurance ‘disturbing’
County officials were given a list of problems in the United States and asked which they found most disturbing. The most frequently cited problem was the number of Americans who don’t have health insurance, which was mentioned by 37 percent of the respondents.
Local economic concerns up
County elected officials were less optimistic about their local economies this year. In 2007, 49 percent of county officials rated economic conditions in their own counties as excellent or good, down from 55 percent in 2006.
Those surveyed also reported having a tougher time with their budgets than in 2006. In 2007, 40 percent of county officials said that balancing the budget was more difficult this year than in other years, compared with 37 percent who answered that way in 2006.
Despite this increase, a majority of county officials (52 percent) were optimistic about their county’s economy, a situation Clark said he doesn’t find “inconsistent or contradictory.” Rating the economy less positively than last year is a reflection of current conditions, he said.
It’s no surprise that the overall rating of counties’ current fiscal health fell slightly in 2007 from 2006 — given their lower assessment of current conditions. The mean rating in 2007 was 6.63 (on a scale of 1–10), down from 6.86 in 2006.
Fiscal health was strongest in the Northeast, where 81 percent of county officials rated fiscal health at 7 or higher. That compares to 60 percent in the Midwest, 57 percent in the South and 50 percent in the West.
Sixty-four percent of the county officials who rated their county’s fiscal health at 5 or lower said their county had raised taxes in response to this fiscal stress — by far the most common response. Twenty-four percent said that their county had cut some services.
Among respondents who rated fiscal health from 6–10, 50 percent said that their county increased the level of county services, while only 17 percent said that their county had reduced taxes or fees.
Despite local pessimism, survey respondents were as bullish on the national economy as in 2006: 52 percent said the national economy is “excellent or good,” the same percentage as last year.
Demographic highlights
In 2007, county elected officials were again predominately white (89 percent) and male (83 percent). The mean age was 60 and the median age was 61, with 68 percent of the sample older than 55. Nearly half (49 percent) of county elected officials in the Midwest are older than 65, compared to about 25 percent of Southern officials.
As for political affiliation, a plurality of elected county officials, 42 percent, were Republicans, 40 percent Democrats and 18 percent independents.
Similar to past surveys, the number of county officials who self-identify as political conservatives far exceeded the number of those who consider themselves to be liberals.
In 2007, 58 percent of county elected officials described themselves as conservative; 12 percent labeled themselves as liberal. In all four regions of the country, a majority of county elected officials identified themselves as conservative. Even among Democrats, more identify as conservative (36 percent) than as liberal (26 percent).
The National County Elected Officials Poll was conducted by telephone in May 2007. Data were collected from a random sample of 501 county elected officials. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 points.
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