Discuss 2020 Citizen Survey    
 

PURPOSE
Review 2020 draft survey questions and survey method.


BACKGROUND (resident survey):
As a result of the 2013 Council strategic planning process, the City initiated a regular, statistically significant, resident surveying process (one survey every two years).  Generally, survey results benefit the City in a wide range of applications (E.g., the budgeting process, policy discussions, capital improvement plan, strategic plan, and the comprehensive plan,).  The City has conducted a resident survey in 2014, 2016, and 2018 (see attached).

PROCESS
Please see attached timeline.  We are anticipating this survey to be completed by residents in August/September of 2020, and for results to be back to Council in October.


 

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This item was considered at the Council work session on June 23, with the consensus to move forward with a survey in 2020.

NOTES/for consideration:
Question 15:  Add Zoom and WebEx
Question 17:  Revise to reflect current strategic plan initiatives
Question 19: Road Maintenance Funding:  Consensus to keep questions and update Franchise Fee proposed rates and miles of road (180).  Consider listing % tax increase.

Online versus mailed response rate.  NCS says that they see less of a response to the online-only survey, yes.and it varies from community to community, but as a general guide, they say to expect somewhere between 20-40% fewer responses when conducting the survey online only. Also, it’s worth noting that the NCS Basic Service automatically includes an online response option (a URL is provided in the cover letter); however, in the past, Ramsey has chosen to omit the URL and collect responses via paper surveys only. As such, it’s especially hard for us to predict what the online-only response rate would look like.  Comparability to previous mailed surveys would not be valid and would distort any trend data from previous years.

Online Survey available after completion of mailed survey
NCS will make the survey available online (at no additional charge) and can segregate results from the mailed survey.  This is done after the mailed survey is complete and all responses have been tabulated.  Individual questions can also poised to the public, if the Council desires, as part of this platform, at no additional cost.

A mailed survey to every household is costly, and an online option in lieu of a mailed survey would not be comparable to past year results, would have a lower response rate, and would have problems with self selection bias.

Staff recommends continuing with the mailed random sample survey.
 

Other Background Information:

• National Research Center (NRC). This organization is based out of Colorado and is backed by the International City/County Managers Association (ICMA).
• The NRC conducts a standardized survey known as the National Citizen Survey (NCS).  This survey holds value in that it was created by cities, for cities.  
• By using/ implementing the NCS across the Country for several years, the NRC now has a vast inventory of comparable/ trend data for cities to utilize (nationally, regionally, and locally).
• The standardized NCS (Nation Citizen Survey) also has efficiencies.  This surveying alternative is much more cost effective than a custom survey (about half the price).  However, maintaining this efficiency means the NCS (and NRC) are fairly inflexible to major alterations to their base survey.  The NCS does allow for custom questions.
• Lastly, because the NCS is a standardized survey, NCS reporting capabilities are tried and true; and professional.  If the City decided to move away from the NCS, reporting capabilities would diminish.
• In Ramsey, the survey will be sent to 1,700 address and will be statistically significant (+/-5% margin for error). NRC expects 300- 450 responses (sample size).  The response rate in 2018 was 29%.
•  Vendor takes care of mailings (multiple, including reminders). Raw results would be collected and refined by vendor (customizable). Relevant comparable data and reporting provided by vendor. This service includes return postage, envelopes, and printing costs.

The amount of $17,000 was budgeted in 2020 for a resident survey.  Furthermore, the City participates in the State of Minnesota's "City/County Performance Measurement" (CPM) program.  Annually, the State provides about $3,500 to the City of Ramsey for performance measurement related costs (which include the Ramsey citizen survey).  In summary, the City has about $20,500 in funding budgeted for a resident survey in 2020.  Staff estimates the survey will fall at or below the budgeted amount.


 

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Provide input regarding questions and process for the 2020 Citizen Survey.