Indicator: 65 - Satisfaction With State Government

Why This Is Important

Value of services for amount of money paid (in this case taxes) is a good measure of efficiency. People’s perception of the efficiency of state government is an important component of their satisfaction with government, and satisfaction with government is important to foster economic growth.

Where We Stand

Maine citizens were asked “How would you rate the value of State services that you get for the taxes you pay to the State?” In 2001, half of those surveyed rated State services as “good” or “excellent,” continuing an upward trend since 1995. In contrast, 20% of a non-random sample of Maine businesses rated services as “good” or “excellent” when they were asked a similar question in the Maine Development Foundation’s 2001 Survey of Maine Businesses.

Data Sources and Context

Maine data for this indicator comes from the Maine Development Foundation 2000 and 2001 Surveys of Maine Citizens. The 2000 Survey was conducted in September 2000 by Market Decisions, Inc.; the 2001 Survey was done between August 20 and September 6, 2001, by Strategic Marketing Services. In both years a randomly selected statewide sample of 601 households was interviewed by telephone. The survey data are available on-line at http://mdf.org.  The Survey was not conducted in 2002; the Foundation intends to administer the next Survey in time for results to be included in the Maine Economic Growth Council’s publication of Measures of Growth 2004.