FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 15, 2010
CONTACT: TED O’MEARA
207.699.4401
ted@cutler2010.com
RELEASE: INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR ELIOT CUTLER PROPOSES “TAXPAYER SATISFACTION SURVEY”
PORTLAND, Maine – Independent candidate Eliot Cutler said today that as governor he will institute a “taxpayer satisfaction survey” that Maine taxpayers can complete when they fill out their income tax forms.
“For too long, April 15 has been a one-way street,” Cutler said. “I think it’s time that state government also asked the people who are footing the bill for state programs and services what they think about the way their money is being spent.”
Cutler has stated repeatedly that state government is “too remote, too big, too unfriendly and too expensive.” In announcing his candidacy in December he went on to say: “We pay for too many things that we don’t need or can’t afford, and we pay too much to deliver what we do need. Customer service isn’t always what it should be, either. We need to make fundamental changes, and we need to cut our costs.”
Cutler said his administration will create a simple one-page survey that can be completed online or on paper and returned with a Maine filer’s income tax return. The survey will ask how taxpayers perceive the value of state programs and services, their thoughts on the way state dollars are allocated and spent, and what their top priorities are for state spending.
In addition, the proposed survey asks taxpayers to rate the quality of service they have received from state agencies in the past year and gives them an opportunity to offer general comments about how their tax dollars are being spent and ways to improve state services.
“Successful companies survey their customers regularly because they want to continually improve their products, programs and customer service, “ Cutler said. “That’s a best practice state government can learn from as well. Every year we ask working Maine families to part with their hard earned dollars to support state government; I think it’s only right that we also ask them how we are doing.”
Cutler said that survey results would not be used to dictate state spending, but that the information gleaned from the surveys would help to inform the budget process. He envisions contracting with a Maine research firm through a competitive bidding process to develop the survey and compile the results.
“The relationship between Maine taxpayers and their government is broken,” Cutler said. “I believe that a taxpayer satisfaction survey is an important gesture in restoring that relationship.”
Tags: Budget, State Budget, Taxes