Poll shows residents unaware of budget problems; plurality favors legalized gambling

A poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire shows residents are largely unaware of the current budget problems facing the state.

According to the Granite State Poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, 17% said they have heard a lot about the state budget, 59% say they have heard a little and 23% said they have heard nothing at all.

The poll also asked respondents for their views on possible ways to fill the budget deficit.

37% favor legalized gambling, 21% would like a sales tax, 20% said an income tax, 6% favored increasing the property tax, 10% said cut state spending and 1% prefers a combination of the plans.

"The percentage of New Hampshire adults who favor legalized gambling as a revenue option has increased steadily since November 1999 while support for an income or sales tax has remained flat and support for increased property taxes has dropped," pollster Andy Smith wrote in a press release.

Respondents said they would be more likely to vote for a state senate candidate who favors legalized gambling and more likely to vote against a candidate who favors increasing the property tax.

41% said they would be more likely to vote for a state senate candidate who favored legalized gambling, 55% said they would be more likely to vote against a candidate who favored a sales tax, 59% would vote against a candidate who supports an income tax and 73% said they would be more likely to vote against someone who favors increasing the property tax.

"And while it is clear that most New Hampshire residents are not at all happy with property taxes as a long term funding solution, they also do not want either an income tax or a sales tax and would be more likely to vote against a candidate for State Senate who favored any of these revenue options," Smith wrote.

The poll interviewed 500 random residents from April 25 to April 30, with a subsample of 456 likely voters.