Money, Priority or Management?

Columbia, SC – According to a new poll of General Election voters commissioned by Palmetto Promise Institute, 81% of South Carolina voters believe that the biggest hurdle to properly funding South Carolina’s roads comes down to either a priority or management problem.

Respondents were asked:

Do you believe that in order to properly fund our state’s infrastructure needs like building new roads and repairing existing roads, bridges and dams that: (1) we have a money problem and need to raise taxes; (2) we have a priority problem and need to reallocate existing tax revenue; or (3) we have a management problem and need to restructure government and change the leaders in charge and the processes currently being used?

Voters overwhelming favored “management problem” at 47%, with “priority problem” coming in a strong second at 34%.  Only 8% identified “money problem” as the biggest hurdle and 11% were undecided.  The findings were consistent across both Presidential candidate and geographic divisions.

Commenting on the results of the poll, Palmetto Promise Institute President Ellen Weaver said, “These results demonstrate that engaged South Carolinians have a nuanced view of what it will take to address South Carolina’s infrastructure crisis.  It’s clear that a solution that focuses only on spending more money via a tax increase is a dead-end with a vast majority of voters.”

The poll, conducted by South Carolina-based Starboard Communications, surveyed 400 registered, likely General Election voters.  Respondents were contacted by live operators, calling both landlines and cell numbers between September 6-8, 2016. Data was stratified to represent accurate proportions in vital characteristics including race, age, gender, geography and political persuasion.  The poll has a margin of error of +/- 4.9 percent.

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