In a post this spring on new.citi.com, we wrote about how Californians were bouncing back from the economic crisis, despite misgivings about their state's economic future - including its budget gap. That phenomenon got us curious, and we set out to learn how folks think the state should improve its bottom line. Would people favor reducing spending? If so, what programs would they cut? What about raising taxes?
We asked those questions in the latest Citi California Pulse™ survey, which revealed that most Californians would choose state spending cuts over increased taxes to help close the state's budget deficit.
At the same time, however, respondents didn't seem too keen on cutting any particular program. In fact, the only spending category that received majority support for reduction was "parks and recreation," with 51 percent. All other choices saw strong majorities against reduced spending, with respondents opposed to cuts to funding for public schools (86 percent), fire fighters (85 percent), police (78 percent), state colleges and universities (75 percent) and health care (73 percent).
When asked what they would choose if they "had to raise taxes," respondents overwhelming preferred to tax lifestyle choices, such as tobacco (77 percent) and soft drinks with sugar (70 percent), over all other options, including sales (33 percent), gasoline (25 percent), income (21 percent) and property (20 percent) taxes.
Now it seems Californians aren't just talking the talk when it comes to tightening the state's belt. In the same survey, we asked Californians about their summer vacation plans. Only 36 percent of those surveyed said they plan to take or have already taken a summer vacation and among those going on a holiday this summer, most plan to stay in California. In addition, Californians expect to keep expenses for their trip low, with 61 percent planning to spend less than $1,000.
Overall, we found that Californians continue to take action to improve their personal finances and career opportunities - and that they remain optimistic about the future. Despite their frugal summer plans, 67 percent of Californians are optimistic that their personal financial situation will be better in the next 12 months, and nearly 60 percent of Californians remain optimistic about job opportunities in a year.
Learn more about the California Pulse™ survey and its methodology.
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