\u00ae <\/sup>Party\u2019s State and Local Growth Polling Program<\/a>.\u00a0 The results they received \u2013 some expected and some eye-opening \u2013 have secured them a seat at the table as the city enters a season of major policy discussions.<\/p>\nGGAR Government Affairs Director Chris Bailey explains that South Carolina prides itself on being a business-friendly, low-tax state \u2013 but that comes with a cost: \u201cThe gas tax here is the lowest in the south, yet we\u2019re struggling to find ways to fund infrastructure.\u00a0 Back in 2016, Greenville County went for too-big-a-bite of the apple when it attempted to pass a penny sales tax that would have generated about $1B; it was going to fix everything over the course of eight or nine years\u2026 except it didn\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0 The proposal failed badly at the polls, and meanwhile, the region\u2019s infrastructure needs are only becoming more urgent.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe applied for the REALTOR\u00ae<\/sup> Party poll to help us better understand and advocate for land use, transportation, and infrastructure policies in Greenville County,\u201d continues Bailey.\u00a0 \u201cFunding for these areas is nowhere near adequate, and, facing an imminent re-write of the County\u2019s land use and infrastructure plans, our effectiveness this time around is going to depend on our understanding of voter sentiment.\u201d<\/p>\nThe poll was conducted by American Strategies, the REALTOR\u00ae<\/sup> Party\u2019s go-to firm for polling and statistics projects.\u00a0 Surveying the most likely voters in Greenville County over the course of a few days in June 2022, it yielded rich results. \u00a0Says Bailey, \u201cI\u2019m not an expert at polling or marketing, and the team took the time to explain not only the numbers, but also the implications.\u201d\u00a0 He reports being shocked by two of the findings: \u201cFirst, 65% of the population polled thinks there\u2019s enough housing choice already, though we know the exact opposite is true.\u00a0 And second, over half of the voters polled did not believe that increasing housing production brings down prices.\u201d \u00a0It was also revealed that, to support infrastructure costs, impact fees charged to developers are widely preferred to a broad-base tax, even though they are a pass-through expense that is ultimately shouldered by the housing consumer, as opposed to a penny-tax on gas, which would be shared by a broad base of the population.\u00a0 Data-based revelations like these, in addition to a deep breakdown of responses by demographic, showed the REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup> exactly where and how the county could be spending its resources most effectively, as it seeks to educate and persuade the voting public prior to the 2024 election \u2013 \u201cThe next year big enough to try again,\u201d notes Bailey.<\/p>\nBeyond the data-rich results of the poll, itself, the effort has yielded the parallel benefit of positioning the REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup> as essential partners in high-level policy discussions as Greenville County navigates the major issues facing the region.\u00a0 \u201cThe poll definitely generated some buzz amongst other stakeholders, as well as local government.\u00a0 We\u2019re sensing a \u2018Let\u2019s get with the REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup>; they have helpful information\u2019 attitude as we\u2019re invited to more policy discussions and committee meetings with transit non-profits and conservation groups,\u201d reports Bailey.<\/p>\n\u201cNAR has some really effective weaponry \u2013 I mean \u2018resources\u2019!\u201d he continues.\u00a0 \u201cThe polling program has not only helped us to refine our approach to crafting policy, and strengthen our role in the community, but our members are using the big-picture slides we\u2019ve created from the data for sales meetings.\u00a0 They understand that these grants are a real instance of their membership dues coming back to Greenville, and that\u2019s a big benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n
To learn more about how the Greater Greenville Association of REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup> has been earning its seat at the table when it comes to growth-related issues in the region, contact Government Affairs Director Chris Bailey at chris.bailey@ggar.com<\/a> or 864.992.1953.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To gauge voter sentiment on a range of growth-related issues, the Greater Greenville Association of REALTORS\u00ae tapped into the polling service the REALTOR\u00ae Party provides for just that purpose.\u00a0 The results \u2013 some expected, some surprising \u2013 are helping the association to help Greenville County as it shapes policy and sends important legislation to the polls.\u00a0","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":14281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,33,296],"tags":[1775,645,485],"class_list":["post-14224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-about-us","category-success-stories","category-success-story","tag-greenville","tag-smart-growth-polling-program","tag-south-carolina"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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