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no <br />RESEARCH <br />Summary & Observations 2 <br />Kittitas County voters are evenly split on the direction the county is headed. While there is no <br />consensus on the county's trajectory, voters are clearly concerned about overpopulation and <br />development, with nearly a quarter identifying it as the most important issue facing the county today; a <br />sentiment that is consistent with findings from focus group research conducted in April. <br />Voters rate the county's management of roads and bridges positively. Sixty-nine percent of voters <br />rate the job the county is doing maintaining roads and bridges as "good" or better. While these <br />positive perceptions represent a vote of confidence in the county's road maintenance, such <br />perceptions can also pose a challenge for Public Works. A public that views the transportation system <br />as well -maintained may not understand its vulnerabilities and may be less receptive to <br />communications about road and bridge maintenance funding challenges. <br />Voters view snowplowing, bridge safety, road maintenance and resurfacing as top <br />transportation priorities. When it comes to specific road and bridge maintenance activities, Kittitas <br />County voters place especially high value on activities that keep people safe. Connecting the levy to <br />continued safety in Kittitas County should resonate with voters. <br />Given just the basic details of the levy, a majority of voters are unsupportive of the tax increase. <br />Over a third of voters say they are "certain" that they would vote "no" in an initial test. <br />All tested support messages receive positive marks from voters. For each reason tested, 58%to <br />74% of voters rate it as a very good or good reason to vote "yes" on the road levy. <br />After learning more about the levy and its potential impacts through the support messages, <br />voter support rises to from 43% to 53%. With this 10-point increase, support outweighs opposition <br />by a 9-point difference. The informed levy test indicates that effective messaging, specifically the <br />messages that highlight voter priorities such as snowplowing and are targeted at likely supporters, has <br />the potential to shift public opinion in favor of the levy. <br />• By observing vote progression from the initial levy test to the informed test, likely supporters <br />and those who are likely to change their vote after learning more information ("movers") tend <br />to be from groups such as those ages 18-29 or 65+, Democrats, those who identify with liberal <br />ideologies, Lower County residents, and renters. <br />P.z.n_rv+ J,4n+;^"s 9- 4Ncxt `i+Pf" <br />• Build communications and outreach around your base of likely supporters, as well as movers <br />(those persuaded by messaging). <br />• Hard -to -get voters are unlikelyto sway from their positions of opposition or uncertainty, <br />making them unlikely to be worth spending significant resources on —particularly voters ages <br />30-44. They also lean Republican, prefer not to share their income, live in Upper County, <br />describe themselves as conservative, and are homeowners. <br />4 1 DHM Research I Consor Kittitas County Public Works Survey I May 2024 <br />