8.4 Citizen Survey Contract
CITY OF SALINA
REQUEST FOR CITY COMMISSION ACTION
DATE
11/21/2005
TIME
4:00 P.M.
AGENDA SECTION
NO:
ORIGINATING DEPARTMENT:
APPROVED FOR
AGENDA:
8
CITY MANAGER
ITEM
NO.
4
BY: Jason A. Gage
BY:
ITEM:
Authorize City Manager to contract for services with National Research Center, Inc. to conduct the
National Citizen Survey.
BACKGROUND:
National Research Center, Inc. in partnership with the International City/County Management
Association conducts the National Citizen Survey, a semi-customized survey of randomly selected
citizens. The National Citizen Survey is a cost effective system for conducting comprehensive
surveys of local residents. The survey is a tool to:
. Monitor trends in resident opinion
. Measure government performance
. Assess support for local policies
. Inform budget, land use, and strategic planning decisions
. Communicate with residents
. Benchmark service ratings (against other municipalities and from year to year with
repetitive administration)
Attached is the information about the National Citizen Survey that was discussed in your
November 7, 2005 Study Session. The base fee for the survey is $8,200 which includes the
following:
. Customized survey form with jurisdiction name, logo, and local contact
. Choice of services to be surveyed
. Addition of three optional questions
. Customized cover letter on jurisdiction letterhead with mayor's or manager's signature
. Three mailings to 1 ,200 randomly selected households: pre-survey postcard and two
mailing of the survey instrument with cover letter
. A margin of error about +/- 5 percentage points around any percent
. Data input and cleaning
. Statistical analysis of survey results
. Written report illustrated with tables and graphs summarizing the survey results
. Comparative norms for service evaluations
. Certificate of survey authenticity
. Technical assistance
CITY OF SALINA
REQUEST FOR CITY COMMISSION ACTION
DATE
11/21/2005
TIME
4:00 P.M.
AGENDA SECTION
NO:
ORIGINATING DEPARTMENT:
APPROVED FOR
AGENDA:
8
CITY MANAGER
ITEM
NO.
4
BY: Jason A. Gage
BY:
Additional options and pricing is as follows:
. Demographic crosstabs - $800
. Geographic crosstabs - $800
. Custom norms - $1 ,000
. Expanded mailing to 3,000 instead of 1 ,200 residents - $6,000
. Spanish - $1 ,400
. One open-ended question - $1 ,250
The next available timeframe that the National Citizen Survey will be administered begins with an
application deadline of November 28, 2005 and will be completed by April 3, 2006.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends administration of the basic survey ($8,200) along with additional options of
demographic crosstabs ($800), customized norms ($1 ,000) and administration in Spanish
($1 ,400) for a total cost of $11 ,400.00.
FISCAL NOTE:
Administration of the National Citizen Survey was not anticipated in the 2005 Public Education
budget, however funds are available in the City Manager Contingency account to cover the
expense of the National Citizen Survey with any or all options that may be selected.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
1. Authorize City Manager to contract for services with National Research Center, I nc. to
conduct the base National Citizen Survey with recommended options, or other options as
desired by the City Commission.
OR
2. Do not authorize the City Manager to contract for services with National Research Center,
Inc. for the administration of the National Citizen Survey at this time.
~
~~
THE
ATIONAL
ITIZEN
Tlvf
URVEY
What is
-rhe National Citizen SurveYTM?
0 The NCSTM is at I.
0 Cost effective system for conducting comprehensive
suT\leys of local residents
0 Customizable survey with core questions important to
your community
0 Benchmarking tool that allows comparison among
communities
N 8.1 ions 1 Rc:~rch C en ltr t [ru;,
3
What kinds of question.s does
The NCSTM ask?
ca Quality of life in the community
Q Quality of local government services
Q Resident participation in local activities
ca Po] icy options
0 Community demographics
~ 8fjon 8.1 ReKarc h C en ter. Inc.
s
I
A turnkey citizen survey service offered by the
INTERNATIONAL CITY/COUNTY MANAGEMENT
ASSOC"IA TION
and
NATIONAL RESEARCH CENTERJ INCt
-.....Jt
~~I ~Nft..l,
IA\~ Nalional RC5I:IITCh CenlCTt hH.:- 6{ RESEARClt
~ --.--'. '- C ENl ~E R .1-.
Aø~
.,
..
~
What are the purposes of
The NCSTM?
Q Monitor trends in resident opinion
CII Measure government performance
Q Assess support for local poJicies
(I Inform budget, land use, strategic planning
decisions
" Communicate with residents
Q Benchmark service ratings
f\aliunðI Research Cc:nler. Inc.
J
What ¡-s incl uded in
The N CS TM service?
0 Customized questionnaire with community logo
and local signatures
at Scientific selection of 1,200 residents
0 Postcard followed by two survey mailings
0 Data processing
0 Data analysis
0 Final report
0 Nonnative comparisons from across the U.S.
Naliona1 Re~8rch Center, roc,
(,
1
Why is the survey conducted
by mail?
Q Response rates are better than phone response
rates
Q Residents are not bàthered by phone calls
0 More residents are included at a 1o"Wer cost
QThe margin of error is about +/-5% for the 400
returns expected
Ne.I~nal RI:KSn.:h Ccntert Inc.
7
What kind of customization is
possible?
0 Choose core services from a list of more than 40
.
s e rVl c e s
0 Create a subset of questions specific to jurisdiction
0 Design an open ..ended question
0 Increase sample size
0 Add Spanish version
0 Compare results to your results from prior years
0 Compare data to results in other local governments
0 Cross-tabulate responses to survey questions by
respondent dem°r£l~PR~l~l Cenl~, In\:.
9
Do you have some exa mples
of' survey questions?
How do you rate the quality of each of the foUowing services in the XYZ of ABCI?
don' l
~ ~ lair gQQ[ know
Public infonnotion services (J (J Q 0 0
Am bu lo nceÆmerg ene y Medical Services (J 0 0 0 Q
In the last 11 months,. about how many times, if ever, have you or your household
members done the following things in the XYZ of ABC?
never
V is ¡led a neighborhood Of X Y Z of ABC park CJ
Vohmteered your Ûlne to some grouplaetiviry
in ABC 0
once or 3 [0 12
lW.ite limk£
Q CJ
more
13 to 26 UW1 26
1imts ~
CJ 0
(J
Q
CJ
0
Na1ional Rf:~rch Ccnlcr, Enc.
11
How do you assure that
survey respondents represent
the community?
0 Random selection of households
Q Unbiased s.election of one member within each
targeted household
Q Multiple mailings reminding each targeted
household to participate
Q Easy response (self addressed postage-paid)
01 Statistical reweighting of sample so that survey
demographics reflect the mos t recent Census
Nalional Research Cenle-r, !nc,
8
What do the final reports look
like?
--...~ ~-
..... .. ~ -.I - ~ . ........ ...
. ~IR øf.....fw
.. """" UN
~.-......~...~ '....,,-_.....~~ "'J""" ..,., ....-.~......
.....- ..-~ ""'~-'-;~~""""-¥-"~' _._.......<.~, . ~.'.'~ -- .~~n~~
.~"...--
"'--"""""'~I"-r.....,.,.~, ...
., ,. - - ----------
.~. -~-
.... ""', M
."", ,
~~- ~,~
Q,Io.oo-~
_......."-<~ ~ ..
'I .h-., ,...~,
...-..... "",'~..-. ..,...\'.
, ~ \"",,""'.'
. ',""'- _."~-
...._~ ~.'~ ",'
, ,
i
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
¡
¡
.
.
.
~
¡
¡
, . .' .~+r , ,
""""'.",-_... .....~_.-.~...4.",-
~ ',J,
- - ----, ...."., , ,. -------- ---. -,., "
~, ""'" ,
- ~,....-............t-.+,"....~...'
: .... - "".'" ~~ =
:: ': . ~ ':" ~ .;:.:.:: ~ :
: ).:~ ' ~ . :~ ..;.; :~; :
:; ~; "':.:="r~:."'".h'"7.."'" - =
, . - """""""~~"'.
" ~ -, .
. . 'I'~~~-- .~~ ~ =
, '- .~ .............. ~
.~"""'~~"--~"::~,.....-~.'.
....
N 61 ~n81 RC5e8 rch Cen ler, T nc-
10
What comparison data does
-rhe NCSTM offer?
Data on trends in resident opinion across the
, -
U .8. comes from
./ 300 jurisdictions' survey results
./ Over 100,000 respondents representing
more than 30,000,000 Americans
./ Cities, counties, townships and villages
N 6,1 ¡una I Rcsearc h Center, Inc
]:!
2
What are my options?
Purchase the Basic Service for $8,200
Select additional services, including:
0 Administration of survey in Spanish and English - $1,400
0 A sample size of 3)000 residents - $6,000
. Breakdown of results by respondent characteristics
. Demographic crosstabi - $800
-Geographic crosstabs - $800
. Customized norms.. $l~OOO
. Comparisons of results lO your prior survey ~ no charge
. T nclu sion of an open-ended questi on - $1,250
NatÏoona] R£8esn:h Cenle'r. Inc~
13
Who is conducting
-rhe NCSTM?
ICMA, the International City/County
Management Association
G Professional association for local government
managers founded in 19 I 4
with
NRC, National Research Center, Inc.
0 Survey research firm whose principals wrote
Citizen Surveys, How to do them, how to use
them, what they mean, for ICMA
National RC5CD.rch Cenle'r. Inc
]5
How is the validity of the
survey authenticated?
0 In the final report, we provide an elaborate
description of our meticulous survey methods.
0 We also provide a certificate of participatjoll,
suitable for display, signed by the executive
director of ICMA - and the president of NR C, to all
jurisdictions that successfully complete the survey
project.
Nationa] Research Cenle'r. Inc.
14
3