The Regional District conducted a survey to measure the satisfaction of citizens in the eight electoral areas in June of this year and released the results of the survey earlier today.
“A Key Success Indicator for our organization is to improve the customer experience” stated Dan Ashton, Chair of the Regional District. “We gather this information so the Board can make informed decisions about where to best apply our resources in the future to make the biggest difference for our citizens”. The Regional District surveys citizens in its electoral areas every second year.
400 residents were randomly selected to share their opinions and ideas about the Regional District as their local government with respect to Quality of Life, Service Satisfaction, Environment, Communications, Information Technology, and Fiscal Responsibility. The survey is accurate within +/- 4.9 percent at the 95 percent confidence level.
Overall satisfaction ratings indicated 77 percent of our residents rate the quality of life in their community as excellent. 71 percent rate it as an excellent place to raise children, and 80 percent rate the Regional District as an excellent place to retire. 63 percent agree the Regional District is doing a good job overall.
62 percent of our citizens believe they get good value for taxes paid. When asked, 73 percent of our citizens prefer that we offer the same level of service at the same level of taxation while 7 percent would prefer that we reduce the current level of service. Asked whether they might support a tax increase, 17 percent said they would support an increase for increased service.
Chair Dan Ashton said the survey results are an important part of the Regional District’s Strategic Plan. “The Regional District Board and staff will use this feedback to guide the organization’s decision-making and financial planning processes”.
As a next step in the Citizen Survey process, the Regional District will now review the statistical and narrative results and determine areas that need to be addressed. This information is used in the Strategic Planning and Budgeting processes for the Board.
The complete report on the 2012 Citizen Survey is available for download from the Regional District website at www.rdos.bc.ca.