RESEARCH

NASHVILLE – Today, the Beacon Center of Tennessee released the full results of a recent poll on the proposed property tax increase in Nashville. Yesterday, the Center announced that 68 percent of likely voters opposed Mayor Karl Dean’s plan to raise taxes by $100 million. The full poll report released by the Nashville-based think tank shows that even when given the mayor’s talking points on the need for the tax increase, 63 percent still oppose it, while support grows by just two points from 21 to 23 percent. Rather than raise taxes, nearly two-thirds of voters state that they would prefer to maintain current levels of spending and cut unnecessary waste to balance Metro’s budget. Download Poll Memo Download Poll Questionnaire Download Poll Marginals “The overwhelming majority of voters who oppose this tax include the family who has already sacrificed so much to make ends meet, the single mother who cannot fathom her rent going up one more dime, and the small business owner who has already laid off employees and can barely pay his current taxes,” said Beacon CEO Justin Owen. “We’re talking about real people who will be harmed by this, and they are paying attention.” The poll also found that majority of voters are pleased with the current direction of Nashville and the performance of the Metro City Council. Fifty-three percent say Nashville is headed in the “right direction,” and nearly six out of 10 voters approve of the way the Council is handling its job. However, Council members’ votes on the proposed tax increase will likely have an impact in the next election, according to the survey. A full 57 percent of voters would be “more likely to vote against” their Council member if he or she sides with the mayor on the tax increase. Hill Research Consultants, a full-service public opinion and marketing research firm organized in 1988, conducted the poll from June 5-7, 2012. The sample size was 403 likely voters, with a margin of error of ±4.9 percent. Special care was taken to ensure that geographic, party affiliation, and demographic divisions of the actual electorate are properly represented in the results of the poll.

###