City of Topeka Citizen Satisfaction Survey PRESENTED BY ETC INSTITUTE

APRIL 2, 2019

A National Leader in Market Research Helping city and county governments gather and use survey data to enhance organizational performance for more than 30 years

More than 2,000,000 persons surveyed since 2006 from 850 cities in 49 states

Purpose Objectively assess satisfaction with the quality of City services

Identify opportunities to improve satisfaction in services that are high priorities to residents

Measure trends over time

Compare Topeka’s performance to other communities

Methodology Survey Description

◦ Seven-page survey

◦ Each survey took approximately 15-20 minutes to complete

◦ Included many of the same questions asked in previous surveys

Method of administration ◦ By mail, phone, and online to a randomly selected sample of households in Topeka

◦ Phone and email follow-ups were made as needed to reach goals

Sample Size Goal ◦ Goal: 400 completed surveys – 438 actually completed

◦ Confidence Level: 95%, Margin of Error: +/- 4.7%

Location of Survey Respondents Good representation of responses from throughout the City

Bottom Line Up Front Residents are generally satisfied with the overall quality of services they receive from the City

◦ Rated 3 points higher than the national average (53% vs. 50%)

Residents are more satisfied with utility services than they were in 2008

Top Priorities ◦ Maintenance of City streets

◦ Flow of traffic and congestion management in the City

◦ Enforcement of City codes and ordinances

◦ Quality of City water and sewer utilities

◦ Quality of police services

Major Findings

52.5% of Respondents Are Satisfied with Overall Quality of Services Provided by Topeka, 13% Are Not

The Services That Received the Lowest Ratings Are Also the Highest Priorities

Notable Increases Since 2008 Effectiveness of leadership provided by City’s elected officials

Maintenance and preservation of Downtown

Overall satisfaction with customer service experience with City employees

Availability of information bout Zoo programs

Overall maintenance of the Zoo

Overall care of animals at the Zoo

Overall effectiveness of City manager and appointed staff

How well the City is planning growth

Drainage of rain water off City streets

Technical competence and knowledge of City employees

Fees charged for Zoo programs

How well the City is managing growth

Level of courtesy received from City employees

Clarity of your tap water

Quality of animal control

23 Items Saw a Notable Increase of 5% or More From 2008

Notable Decreases Since 2008 Experience in obtaining land development info/approval

Fire related education programs offered by the City

Overall quality of City water and sewer utilities

Overall quality of local police protection

Maintenance of traffic signals and street signs

Enforcing the exterior maintenance of business properties

Only 6 Items Saw a Notable Decrease of 5% or More From 2008

Importance Satisfaction Analysis

Based on the concept that public agencies will maximize overall customer satisfaction by emphasizing improvements in those areas where the level of satisfaction is relatively low, and the perceived importance of the service is relatively high

Overall Priorities for Improvement

2018 Importance-Satisfaction RatingTopeka, Kansas

Major Categories of City Services

Category of Service

Most

Important

%

Most

Important

Rank

Satisfaction

%

Satisfaction

Rank

Importance-

Satisfaction

Rating

I-S Rating

Rank

Very High Priority (IS >.20)

Overall maintenance of city streets 82% 1 15% 9 0.6970 1

Overall flow of traffic & congestion management in city 34% 3 37% 7 0.2145 2

High Priority (IS .10-.20)

Overall enforcement of city codes & ordinances 26% 5 31% 8 0.1791 3

Overall quality of city water & sewer utilities 28% 4 49% 4 0.1447 4

Overall quality of police services 40% 2 67% 2 0.1305 5

Medium Priority (IS <.10)

Overall effectiveness of city communication with the public 17% 6 41% 5 0.0978 6

Overall quality of city's stormwater runoff/stormwater management

system13% 8 40%

60.0803 7

Overall quality of fire & emergency medical services 16% 7 86% 1 0.0214 8

Overall quality of customer service you receive from city employees 4% 9 59% 3 0.0180 9

Questions? THANK YOU