For Immediate Release – March 4, 2009
Contact: Dallas Woodhouse (919) 671-1050 or Mary Ellen Burke, (202) 349-5880

RALEIGH ─ A new survey by the free-market grassroots group Americans for Prosperity finds that at 62 percent, a clear majority of North Carolina residents say state taxes are too high and an equal number report state spending is too high as well. When asked to identify the most important issues in state budgeting, 60 percent identified wasteful spending on programs that do not work, 31 percent overall state spending and 29 percent state tax rates. All three percentages were well above the national results.

“Despite the recent efforts of many groups that receive government funding in North Carolina to gin up support for soaking taxpayers even more of their hard earned dollars, North Carolina taxpayers have simply had enough,” said Dallas Woodhouse, state director of the North Carolina Chapter of Americans for Prosperity. “They’re sick and tired of politicians in Raleigh raising taxes to pay for spending programs that leave us with the highest tax rates in the southeast and crumbling roads and failing schools.”

The survey also finds that lower-income North Carolinians oppose higher taxes, even if they are not forced to pay them. 65.1 percent of respondents earning under $30,000 rejected the idea of raising taxes on others.

Respondents also rejected the idea of taxes that are paid for by working poor and lower income groups, with a decisive 90 percent opposing the taxes.

“It is clear that taxpayers of all income levels understand that North Carolina cannot tax its way to prosperity. Significant reductions in state spending may be difficult for politicians and government-funded operations to fathom, but it is not difficult for hard-working citizens, many of whom have seen a 50 to 100% drop in their incomes in recent weeks. Government must make cuts just like the rest of us do around the kitchen table,” Woodhouse concluded.

The survey was conducted by Voter/Consumer Research, and is based on the responses of 609 registered voters across the state, conducted by telephone Feb. 2-5 of this year. The margin of error is +/- 4 percent.

The complete national and state-specific survey results can be viewed by clicking here.