Agenda - Council Work Session - 04/08/2014

Home

Listed below is a general list of benefits resulting from a regular surveying program. • Support and follow up to the City's Strategic Planning Process (including the balanced scorecard) • Support to the City's budgeting process and general Council policy discussions • Support to City's ongoing efforts for increased efficiencies and organizational effectiveness • Accountability and the ability to attain regular, measurable, input from the public • Ability to attain comprehensive cross section of input from the public • Ability to analyze trends in public input over time • Ability to identify outlier components in public input (red flags and unique strengths) • Ability to compare Ramsey public input to other communities • Ability to attain public input in a timely /relevant fashion on major policy discussions. • Use of information for CPM program to continually receive State funds Council Direction Two general options for Council direction have been identified and outlined below. 1. Direction to pursue one of the general survey alternatives (methods) outlined in the attachments. 2. Direction not to conduct a survey. If this alternative was selected, Staff would seek Council direction to bring back a case to update the City's Strategic Plan (balanced scorecard section). Staff Recommendation Staff is recommending the Third Party Mail alternative. Staff believes a Third Party Mail survey results in a high quality, statistically significant, professional product that will also balance efficient use of both City financial and human resources. Staff would like to make it clear, the proposed resident survey would not be conducted annually. Staff would propose for a resident survey to be conducted bi- annually Therefore, annual total cost for Third Party Mail survey to the City would range between $4,753 and $7,188 annually, depending on the number of questions selected. It should be noted, the City receives an annual $3,300 allocation from the State available for funding a resident survey (see Funding /Budget section above for details). As a result of the State allocation, if the Third Party Mail alternative was selected, the required total annual allocation from the City would range from $1,453 to $3,888, depending on the number of questions selected; which, falls well within the City's 7,500 annual budget allocation for a resident survey. If the Council not interested in the Third Party Mail survey alternative, it should be noted, all other survey alternatives outlined in this case would result in significant soft costs (internal Staff time) and questionable statistical significance (reliable results). Staff is concerned the net value to the City, for said remaining alternatives, is relatively marginal. Timeframe: Discussion will take 10 -30 minutes estimated. Funding Source: $10,850 is included in the 2014 General Fund budget. $7,500 under the budget of Mayor and Council and $3,350 from the State for the annual performance measurement reimbursement. Responsible Party(ies): Administration Department Outcome: Select preferred method to perform a regular resident survey.