UCI

Local Government

Most residents give positive ratings to the local public services they receive today. Their evaluations have not declined after the Orange County financial crisis and, in fact, some have improved since the early 1990s. However, many still express a lack of confidence in county government.

More than seven in 10 rank their police protection (75%) and parks and public recreation (74%) as excellent or good, while about six in 10 give high rankings to public libraries (66%) and streets and roads (60%). Fewer than one in 10 rate these public services as poor. Forty-two percent give positive ratings to their local public schools, while 14 percent give poor ratings. Graph

The positive ratings for police protection and public schools are considerably higher than they were five years ago, while parks and public recreation, and streets and roads are statistically unchanged. Compared to the 1982 benchmark survey, ratings of police protection are the same, public schools are about the same and ratings of parks and streets have declined.

South County residents give more positive ratings than North County residents to their police (83% to 72%), parks (82% to 70%) and local streets (72% to 55%). Those with children in the public schools are more likely to give positive ratings to the public schools than others (55% to 36%).

Residents have more confidence in their city governments than in the county government when it comes to solving problems (42% to 24%) and paying attention to residents' concerns (67% to 59%). Relatively few see their city government (14%) or county government (7%) as paying a lot of attention to residents, while half see them paying some attention. Graph

In the wake of the county government's budget cuts following the bankruptcy and financial crisis, residents are still more likely to say that the county government, rather than their city government, wastes a lot or some of the taxpayer's money (84% to 73%). Many believe that the county government (39%) and their city government (29%) waste a lot of money.

Positive ratings of problem-solving by city governments is similar to the 1991 survey (39%) but less than in the benchmark 1982 survey (48%). The other questions were not asked in the previous Orange County Annual Surveys.

South County residents are more positive than North County residents about their city government's abilities to solve problems (50% to 39%) and be responsive to local residents (74% to 65%). There are no regional differences in perceptions of county government.

A bare majority today are willing to increase their taxes to improve their local public schools (50% to 46%). In 1988, 42 percent said they would vote for a tax increase, while 55 percent opposed it. Those with children in the public schools support a tax increase (55% to 42%), while those without schoolchildren are slightly opposed (47% to 49%). However, the level of support falls well short of the two-thirds majority that is needed to raise local taxes in California. Graph