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Kinder Institute and city—s "Your 2¢" survey: Houstonians prioritize infrastructure, homelessness and public safety spending
Summary
Presenters from Rice University's Kinder Institute told the Budget & Fiscal Affairs Committee that a city-conducted convenience survey (about 1,200 responses) and the Kinder Houston-area survey (nearly 9,800 respondents across three counties) show residents favor increased spending on infrastructure and homelessness, broad support for police and
Rice University's Kinder Institute presented results to the Budget & Fiscal Affairs Committee on June 3 from two surveys — the city—s "Your 2¢" budget survey and the institute—s 44th annual Kinder Houston-area survey — that show residents prioritizing infrastructure, homelessness and several public-safety and community services.
Daniel Potter, director of the Kinder Institute's Population Research Center, and research analyst Lauren Dawson presented the findings. Potter said the Kinder Houston-area survey reached about 9,800 respondents across Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties and is a scientifically drawn sample; the city—s "Your 2¢" budget survey was a convenience sample in the field from April 16 to May 30 and drew roughly 1,200 responses.
Key results: survey takers ranked infrastructure and addressing homelessness as the top two city spending priorities. "About 9 in 10 respondents said they wanted more spending on infrastructure and about 6 in 10 wanted more spending on addressing homelessness," Dawson said. On policing and other public-safety services, Potter and Dawson reported that roughly seven in 10 respondents wanted more spending on police patrol and investigations, while roughly seven in 10 also supported more spending on mental-health crisis intervention.
On community services, respondents showed majority support for increased spending on mental-health and addiction services and on sidewalks; roughly 4 in 10 respondents favored more spending on youth and after-school programs. When asked whether they would support increases in taxes or fees to improve essential city services, about 67% of respondents said yes (46% said yes outright and another 21% said yes for specific services). Among residents who would pay a new garbage fee, about two-thirds supported a $10-per-month or larger fee.
Potter and Dawson emphasized the differences between the two samples: the Kinder Houston-area survey is scientifically representative across three counties and has nearly 5,000 Harris County respondents; the city—s budget survey was an open, self-selected instrument and the presenters cautioned about generalizing its results citywide without weighting or further demographic analysis.
Committee members asked follow-up questions about demographic and geographic breakdowns of the city survey responses, noise abatement and bike-lane responses. Potter and Dawson said the team collected ZIP codes and age-category data and that staff would perform further breakdowns and share results. Council members representing neighborhoods with differing service expectations pressed for geographic detail and age and homeowner/renter splits before using the survey as a guide for specific tax or fee changes.
What—s next: Kinder staff and city analysts said the survey data — along with the Kinder Houston-area survey findings on economic inequality, immigration perceptions and regionwide growth trends — will be available for council members to review, and additional cross-tabulations (by ZIP code and demographic groups) will be provided on request.
(Reporting based on presentations by Daniel Potter and Lauren Dawson of the Kinder Institute and committee Q&A.)
