Maui Now Survey Results: majority report increase in household expenses, 67% believe the quality of public education declined

Maui Now released a survey on Friday, Sept. 2, asking its readers to share their opinions and attitudes toward current issues affecting Maui County.

The survey questions focused on local topics including:

• The quality of public education in Hawaiʻi,
• Mail-in ballots vs. in-person voting,
• Capping visitor accommodations to mitigate over-tourism,
• Change in household expenses in the past month, and
• Persisting population growth of axis deer.

Survey responses were collected for 14 days from Sept. 2 to 15, 2022.

Announcements inviting the public to take the survey were posted on Maui Now’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, website, newsletters, and mobile app.

Maui Now received 449 verified responses with 96% identifying as Maui County residents and 4% identifying as non-residents. A total of 92% of respondents identified as registered voters and 8% as non-registered voters.

In September 2022, only 5% of Maui Now survey respondents reported that the quality of public education in Hawaiʻi has improved, 29% said the quality stayed about the same, and 67% said that quality declined.

For the 2022-2023 school year, Hawai‘i K-12 schools will receive $58,193,270 in new federal funding to support programs aimed at helping to educate students in low-income communities.

This year’s funding is an increase of $1,675,317 from the 2021-2022 school year. Read more about how the new federal funding will be allocated here.

As the Nov. 8 general election nears, 71% percent of Maui Now survey respondents reported that they are very or somewhat comfortable with mail-in ballots. An estimated 29% of survey respondents reported that they are not very or not at all comfortable with mail-in voting.

The state Office of Elections advises voters that they can sign up to receive ballot tracking alerts via text, email, or voice alerts letting them know where their ballot is in the voting process. Read more about the ballot tracking service here.

Maui Mayoral candidates Richard Bissen and Michael Victorino will answer questions from a panel of Maui reporters on Saturday, Oct. 15. The mayoral debate will be broadcast live on Akakū from Seabury Hall in Makawao. Read more about the upcoming event here.

A estimated 78% of Maui Now readers reported that they support capping the number of visitor accommodations to help mitigate over-tourism, 11% are undecided, and 12% said they will not support capping visitor accommodations.

There are currently more than 24,000 visitor lodging units, according to 2021 data from the county’s Real Property Assessment Division.

Read more about the over-tourism and transient accommodations debate here.

A majority or 80% of Maui Now survey respondents reported that their overall household expenses have increased in the last 30 days, 2% reported a decrease in expenses, and 18% said their expenses stayed about the same.

The axis deer population on Maui County has grown to approximately 60,000 or more with state officials saying it cannot be sustained by the environment.

On Sept. 20, Gov. David Ige issued a fourth proclamation establishing another emergency relief period for the axis deer crisis in Maui County.

According to state officials, the large number of deer has devastated pasture forage and vegetation that are already scarce because of continuing drought conditions.

An estimated 45% of Maui Now survey respondents reported that they are very concerned with the persisting issue, 32% are somewhat concerned, 15% are not very concerned, and 8% are not at all concerned.

Read more about the persisting issue and fourth proclamation here.

NOTE: This is not a scientific survey, the results only reflect the opinions of survey respondents.