MIAMI, Fla. — July 10, 2014 — A comprehensive survey of likely voters in Miami-Dade County commissioned by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce with support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation showed that 80 percent oppose a significant cut to the library budget, while 13 percent support it.

The survey, conducted by Bendixen Amandi International, was designed to delve deeper on results from an earlier survey by the same firm that focused solely on the question of whether the library portion of property taxes should be increased. This survey included additional options: cut spending on other county services to preserve library funding, or reduce library services.

Even when told that the budget deficit could be up to $20 million and presented with funding options, 67 percent of respondents wanted the county to find a solution that preserved library funding, either by increasing the library portion of the property tax (34 percent) or cutting spending for other county services (33 percent), while 22 percent favored cutting library services to cover the deficit and 11 percent offered no opinion.

Miami-Dade commissioners are readying to set a preliminary property-tax rate on July 15.

Bendixen-Amandi interviewed 5,200 likely registered voters — 400 in each of the commission districts — in English, Spanish and Haitian-Creole, for a comprehensive survey with a margin of error of just 1.36 percent. Opposition to budget cuts in individual districts ranged from 69 percent to 85 percent.

“Our community’s residents made it clear in the survey that they are concerned about significant cuts to our library system,” said Barry E. Johnson, president and CEO of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. “While the pressure on budget for all county services is enormous, we believe a focus of the value of our libraries should be a priority.”

“Knight Foundation believes that communities thrive when they are informed and engaged, and this survey offers accurate, reliable information that the community can use to make decisions,” said Alberto Ibargüen, president of Knight Foundation. “Libraries themselves play an increasingly important part in providing access to information in the digital age, so it’s essential that any decisions we make about them are as informed as possible.”

A presentation of the full survey results and major findings, as well as an interview where Fernand Amandi of Bendixen-Amandi explains the findings, may be viewed at the following links:

• Major findings (9 slides, slideshare.net)
• Full survey results (43 slides, slideshare.net)
• Explainer video (English)
• Explainer video (Spanish)

About Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce

The Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce is the voice of business in South Florida, representing more than 400,000 employees of member companies. To carry out its mission, the Chamber involves the private sector in community leadership. For more than a century, the Chamber has been widely recognized and respected for its extraordinary record of economic development and community improvement. The Greater Miami Chamber is a proactive chamber, regularly getting engaged in issues important to its member companies and individuals. Its program of work is organized in six areas: Community Growth, Governmental Affairs, Industry Growth, International Business, Leadership Programs, and Marketing & Member Services. The Chamber is nationally recognized as one of the Top 10 Executive Speaking Forums in America.

About Knight Foundation

Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. We believe that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged.

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CONTACTS:

Jorge Martinez, [email protected], and Stephanie Rojas, [email protected], The Conroy Martinez Group, 305-445-7550.

Andrew Sherry, [email protected], Knight Foundation, 305-908-2677.