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implement one tax and the Board has decided to place this on the May primary. Last fall, the <br /> Board of County Commissioners created the local options revenue advisory committee and this <br /> committee has been educating itself on this topic. This committee produced an initial report to <br /> the Board of County Commissioners in the agenda packets with the pros and cons of these <br /> options. <br /> The Board of County Commissioners held a public hearing on February 5th and also <br /> approved a survey by Hertzog Research LLC to survey 400 likely Orange County voters to get <br /> an idea about the opinions of the two options. The survey also included some questions about <br /> how residents get their information (news media, internet, etc.). The survey data is included in <br /> the packets also. <br /> There are three versions of the resolution that staff and the attorney worked on, with the <br /> notion that the County Commissioners will adopt one of them. Also, at the February 12th work <br /> session, there was a detailed discussion about the potential uses of the proceeds from the <br /> revenue options, and the Board agreed that it was important to have clarity and simplicity with <br /> regard to this. The Board asked the staff to put together an initial statement of intended uses as <br /> a starting point for discussion. <br /> Chair Jacobs suggested that the Board might want to refer to the items on the draft for <br /> March 6th, since there are 12 people signed up to speak to this item tonight. He suggested <br /> touching on the resolution, but it will be on the agenda for March 6th with discussion and <br /> decision. <br /> Chair Jacobs thanked the committee for the time put into this effort. <br /> Dr. Mark Hertzog, Principal of Hertzog Research, gave the highlights of the PowerPoint <br /> presentation. <br /> Citizen Survey on Tax Proposals <br /> Summary Presentation to the <br /> Board of Commissioners <br /> Executive Summary <br /> v About half of Orange County citizens likely to vote in the May 6 primary say they support a <br /> 0,25% sales tax increase on non-food items, while one-third are opposed, and the <br /> remaining one-sixth are undecided. <br /> • The two top reasons for opposing the sales tax are the belief taxes are already too <br /> high, and the regressive effect of sales taxes on those with lower incomes. <br /> • There is very little overlap between these two groups. <br /> Conversely, only one-third support a 0.4%land transfer tax, while a majority are opposed <br /> and the remaining 14% are undecided. <br /> • Those who say they definitely will vote in the primary are somewhat less strongly <br /> opposed to the land transfer tax than those who say they probably will vote—but <br /> neither group supports the measure. <br /> v That said, when asked to choose which one of the two taxes they would prefer to see <br /> enacted, regardless of how they voted, citizens split down the middle: 48%prefer the sales <br /> tax, and 43%prefer the land transfer tax. <br /> r Orange County voters predominately get local news through traditional print media and <br /> television. <br />