September 2015

Town of the Blue Mountains Citizen Satisfaction Survey

BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY

Section One:

Research Objectives:

The objectives of the 2015 Citizen Satisfaction survey were to:

Provide insight into the areas of operation and service delivery that require the most immediate attention in order to improve citizen satisfaction;

Establish benchmarks to evaluate progress of initiatives going forward; and,

Identify spending priorities over the next few years

Sampling & Methodology

Research was conducted via live agent Computer-Assisted-Telephone-Interviewing (CATI) of full-time and part-time residents in the Town of the Blue Mountains

Respondents were called from July 7th to July 16th, 2015 (Evening and weekend calling only)

A total of 416 interviews were completed, each approximately 12 minutes in length

The margin of error was +/-5, at the 95% confidence interval level.

Part-time vs. Full-Time Respondents

Full-time Resident

Part-time / Seasonal Resident

76%

24%

Resident Type (n=416)

S.2. When it comes to living in the Town of The Blue Mountains, would you consider yourself a...?

Quota: n=100*Custom list of part-

time respondents was included in the

sample

Randomly generated sample list

TOP LINE RESULTSSection Two:

87% of respondents said they were either satisfied or very satisfied with services overall

Very dissatisfied

Dissatisfied

Satisfied

Very Satisfied

2%

11%

67%

20%

Satisfaction with Services Overall (n=416)

Q1. Thinking about all of the services offered by the Town of The Blue Mountains, would you say you are...?

Highest satisfaction ratings were recorded for: Public Library (98%), Fire and emergency services (96%), Walking Trails (95%), Police Services

(93%), and Parks and Green-space maintenance (92%)

Public Library (n=342)

Fire and emergency services (n=348)

Walking Trails (n=380)

Police Services (n=377)

Parks and Green-space Maintenance (n=397)

Facility Booking (n=187)

Election / Voting (n=371)

Online services (n=298)

Clerk's Office / Council and General Inquiries (n=344)

Recreation facilities (n=366)

Garbage / recycling collection (n=399)

50%

32%

40%

18%

29%

10%

12%

17%

18%

25%

30%

48%

64%

55%

75%

63%

80%

78%

73%

69%

61%

56%

1%

3%

4%

6%

7%

8%

9%

10%

11%

12%

11%

1%

1%

1%

1%

1%

2%

1%

1%

3%

2%

3%

Satisfaction with Discrete Services

Very satisfied Satisfied Dissatisfied Very dissatisfied

Top 2 Box %:

98%

96%

95%

93%

92%

90%

90%

90%

87%

86%

86%

Services with lowest satisfaction ratings were recorded for: Building permits, inspection services and renovations (60%), as well as general

road condition maintenance (67%)

Road snow removal (n=396)

Financial Services (n=392)

Sidewalk snow removal (n=307)

Water and wastewater supply (n=348)

Communications re: Town Hall meetings / community events (n=352)

By law and parking enforcement (n=342)

Cycling Infrastructure (n=350)

Public consultation and municipal processes (n=329)

General road condition maintenance (n=413)

Building permits, inspection services, and renovations (n=277)

22%

15%

14%

18%

14%

11%

19%

7%

9%

8%

63%

70%

69%

64%

67%

69%

57%

64%

58%

52%

13%

10%

13%

13%

17%

17%

18%

24%

25%

30%

2%

5%

4%

5%

2%

3%

6%

5%

8%

10%

Satisfaction with Discrete Services

Very satisfied Satisfied Dissatisfied Very dissatisfied

Top 2 Box %:

85%

85%

83%

82%

81%

80%

76%

71%

67%

60%

Strategic priorities to improving overall satisfaction with services

Rank Service Importance Satisfaction1 Public consultation and municipal processes 0.498 71%

2 Building permits, inspection services for new construction, and renovations 0.315 60%

3 General road condition and maintenance 0.311 67%4 Communications 0.359 81%5 Bylaw and parking enforcement 0.338 80%6 Cycling Infrastructure 0.268 76%7 Clerk’s office / Council and general inquiries 0.492 87%8 Water and waste-water supply 0.340 82%9 Financial Services 0.335 84%

10 Road snow removal 0.350 85%11 Sidewalk snow removal 0.282 83%12 Garbage / Recycling Collection 0.319 86%13 Facility Booking 0.398 90%14 Recreation Facilities 0.280 86%15 Online Services 0.369 90%16 Election / Voting 0.332 90%17 Parks and greenspace maintenance 0.325 92%18 Police Services 0.245 93%19 Walking Trails 0.239 95%20 Fire and Emergency services 0.246 96%21 Public Library 0.171 98%

High PriorityMedium Priority

Low Priority

Understanding Derived Importance

Key points to understanding Derived Importance:

• Derived Importance is a correlation-based model• If something is “important” it means it has a shared variance with the

end variable (i.e. overall satisfaction with services) that is not due to chance/randomness

• Forum research takes into account both importance (i.e. correlation analysis) and performance (i.e. satisfaction with service) to determine which areas are most worth focusing on to drive higher overall satisfaction results.

Nearly half of respondents said they had contacted a Municipal employee within the past 12 months

Yes

No

49%

51%

Personal contact with a Municipal employee over the past 12 months (n=416)

Q3. Have you had any personal contact (via in-person, telephone, email etc.) with a municipal employee over the past 12 months?

Respondents were most satisfied with the staff who provided the service (71%) and the quality of service delivery (68%)

Amount of time it took to get the service (n=197)

Accessibility of service / product (n=203)

Quality of service delivery (n=201)

Staff who provided the service (n=202)

64%

66%

68%

71%

Satisfaction with most recent contact with the Town

(Top two box: 4 or 5)

Q5. Based on your most recent experience and contact with the Town, please rate your satisfaction for each of the following statements on a 5-point scale, where 1 means "very dissatisfied" and 5 means "very

satisfied”. Starting with…

The largest proportion of respondents agreed that staff were courteous (80%), staff were respectful (77%) and the hours of services were

convenient (72%)

Staff went the extra mile to make sure I got what I needed

It was clear what to do if I had a problem

I was informed of everything to get service / product / info

I was treated fairly

Staff were knowledgeable and competent

Staff were good listeners

The hours of service were convenient

Staff were respectful

Staff were courteous

63%

63%

65%

70%

71%

71%

72%

77%

80%

Agreement with various aspects of contact with the Town (Top two box: 4 or 5, n=204)

Q6. And again, based on your most recent experience and contact with the Town, please rate the performance of the staff by telling me the extent to which you agree or disagree with each statement on a

5-point scale, where 1 means "strongly disagree” and 5 means “strongly agree”.

Overall, the majority of respondents (67%) said they got what they needed in the end

Not get what you needed

Get part of what you needed

Get what you needed

16%

17%

67%

End result after contacting the Town (n=204)

Q7. Again, based on this most recent experience and contact with the Town, in the end, did you...?

The majority of respondents (72%) said they were either satisfied / very satisfied with overall service delivery

Very Satisfied Satisfied Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied

Dissatisfied Very dissatisfied

42%

30%

7%11% 10%

Overall satisfaction with Service delivery (n=204)

Q8. Overall, how satisfied were you with this service?

The majority of respondents (73%) said they receive either very good or fairly good value for their tax dollars

Don't Know / No opinion

Very poor value

Fairly poor value

Fairly good value

Very good value

3%

8%

16%

57%

16%

Value for Tax (n=416)

Q9. Thinking about all of the programs and services you receive from the Town of The Blue Mountains, how much value do you feel you get for your tax dollars? Would you say you get...?

The largest proportion of respondents said top spending priorities moving forward should be: Investing in infrastructure replacement

(48%) and high speed internet (47%)

Additional Library Service Points in the Town

Construction of a Curling Club

Library Expansion

Access to Public Transit

Developing a public park in the open space between the Town Hall and the Beaver River

Enhanced Winter Maintenance of sidewalks

Water / Wastewater Servicing for Clarksburg

Affordable Housing

Parks and Trails

Green Bin Organics Collection

Developing a clear vision for the "look and feel" of the Highway 26 corridor

Waterfront Acquisition for Public use

Cycling Infrastructure

High Speed Internet

Investing in Infrastructure Replacement

11%

14%

24%

27%

28%

30%

32%

38%

41%

41%

44%

44%

44%

47%

48%

Top spending priorities over the next few years (Top Box: 8, 9 or 10)

Q11. In order to help guide what projects the Town of The Blue Mountains should focus on in the next few years, on a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is a low priority and 10 is a very high priority, please rate how much of a spending priority each of

the following is to you.

Questions?