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City of Ramsey Long -Term Road Maintenance Program <br />Residential Survey Results — July 2011 <br />1. More than 9 out of 10 respondents believe the quality of life in Ramsey is good or <br />excellent, and a majority of participants believe they are receiving good value for their <br />taxes. <br />- 21 % rated the quality of life as "excellent" and 72% rated it as "good." <br />- When asked to consider the amount of taxes paid to the city and the quality of services <br />received in return, 59% of respondents believe they receive good or excellent value. <br />2. Majorities of respondents believe the city's streets and roads currently are in good <br />condition and well maintained, but they still consider road maintenance to be a <br />significant issue for the city. <br />- When asked to rank Ramsey's local streets and roads according to various characteristics, <br />the following majorities gave rankings of excellent or good: <br />Road width (82 %) <br />The city's responsiveness to road maintenance and repair needs (62 %) <br />The quality and condition of Ramsey's roads compared to neighboring cities (57 %) <br />Safety features such as lights, sidewalks and signs (55 %) <br />The overall quality of streets and roads (54 %) <br />- Road maintenance and The COR ( Ramsey's downtown development project) were <br />identified equally as the "most serious issue facing the city." <br />3. Almost three out of four respondents believe Ramsey needs to develop a long -term <br />street reconstruction and funding policy. <br />After learning that reconstruction of nearly half of the city's roads will be necessary between <br />2016 and 2025 and that the city's current policy provides for funding reconstruction with <br />assessments, 73% of respondents said the city should develop a new policy; 11` of those <br />felt strongly about this. <br />4. Among three options presented for funding long -term road maintenance and <br />reconstruction, a citywide franchise fee is more acceptable than a property assessment <br />or citywide property tax. <br />- 49% of respondents favored a franchise fee, 47% opposed. <br />39% favored a citywide property tax, 57% opposed. <br />77% opposed — 27% strongly— a standard property assessment based on lineal footage. <br />When asked to choose among all three options, 44% favored the franchise fee (18% <br />strongly). <br />5. Ensuring safety and spreading out the cost of long -term road maintenance and <br />reconstruction are the most compelling reasons for supporting a new policy, according <br />to respondents. <br />- 74% believe safety is an important reason to pursue a new policy; 39% of those felt <br />strongly. <br />- 69% of respondents believe spreading out the costs and keeping property owner <br />assessments low is a compelling reason; 22% of those felt strongly. <br />Concern about the current economy was the most compelling reason tested in opposition to <br />doing a long -term road maintenance and funding program. <br />Decision Resources, Ltd. conducted a telephone survey administered to 300 randomly selected adults living in the city of <br />Ramsey. Professional interviewers conducted the survey June 7 -21, 2011. The typical respondent took 11 minutes to <br />complete the questionnaire. The results of this study are projectable to the universe of adult Ramsey residents within <br />6.0% in 95 out of 100 cases. <br />