A majority of Marylanders in a new survey said they favor raising taxes on wealthy households over other options including legalizing internet gaming or making changes to the state sales tax. 

The poll commissioned by Blended Public Affairs and Perry Jacobson, a marquee Annapolis lobbying shop, also found that utility costs and data centers are top of mind for Maryland voters. 

Next year, the governor and the General Assembly will face tough choices as they look to close a $3 billion projected structural budget gap. A solution could come with a menu of cuts and tax increases. 

In the poll released Tuesday, 54% said they favored raising taxes on households with $500,000 or more in income. Support for legalized internet gaming — which would require voter approval in a subsequent election — came in at just 36%. Another 27% said they favored tax increases on businesses with 50 or more employees. 

Some of the least favored options included changes to Maryland's sales tax which currently stands at 6%. 

Increasing the sales tax by a penny would generate $1.2 billion in additional revenue. Such a move is seen as regressive and would hit lower-income households already feeling the economic pinch. 

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Just 11% said they favored such an increase. Another 15% said they would a levy on services not currently covered by the sales tax. 

The poll — a text message-to-web interview — surveyed 800 registered Marylanders who were likely to vote in November. It was conducted between July 27 and Aug. 3 and has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points. 

Of those surveyed in the poll, 3% said they would favor an increase to the state property tax. That tax is earmarked to repay bonds issued annually by the state. 

Marylanders are also increasingly pessimistic about the state of the economy. 

Nearly six in 10 surveyed rated the state economy as "not so good" or poor. Just 2% said it was excellent. Two in five voters rated the economy as "good." 

Four in 10 said they wanted the next governor to focus on lowering utility costs. Roughly one-third said there should be a focus on "creating jobs and growing the economy." 

A majority of Marylanders are increasingly concerned about rising energy costs and the accompanying financial pressures, according to the poll. 

Utility costs continue to be top of mind for Maryland residents as 51% of those surveyed said they are "really struggling financially" or "Just getting by." Another 53% said they worried that utility bills would be so high that they or a family member would not be able to pay them. 

A plurality of voters — 42% — reported difficulties in paying a utility bill in the last year. 

are driving public concerns about data centers. Three of every four surveyed said they were concerned or very concerned about the impact of data centers. 

Topping those concerns, 39% of those polled said they worried about increased electric bills. Another 21% said environmental impacts were troublesome. 

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