To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
Through: David L. Corliss, Town Manager
From: Kristin Read, Assistant Town Manager
Title
Update: 2023 Community Survey Process
Body
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Executive Summary
In every odd-numbered year since 2011, the Town has completed resident and business surveys to gauge these groups’ perceptions about Town services and issues. The same firm, now known as ComEngage, has conducted these surveys on the Town’s behalf since 2015. Using the same vendor provides consistency and allows the Town to best trend its performance year-over-year.
Staff has begun working with ComEngage to prepare for the 2023 community survey. On February 7, staff and the consultant will present Council with draft resident and business surveys for feedback. If any Councilmembers wish for a more detailed review of past and planned survey practices, staff recommends they request an individual meeting ahead of this discussion.
Current planning calls for the surveys to be finalized soon after the Council discussion so they can be administered from mid-February to early April. That schedule will allow for a review of survey results with Council on April 18. This timing purposefully provides the results well ahead of the Town’s annual budget process so that any priorities that emerge can be evaluated and prioritized.
Discussion
Conducting community surveys is a common practice within Douglas County. The County has surveyed residents at least every other year since 2006, and our neighboring communities of Lone Tree and Parker also survey their communities every few years.
The Town’s survey provides a scientific way to gauge sentiments within the community. It asks for opinions about Town services, quality of life, key community issues and more. Data collected is compared to that from past years, and movements in opinions are explored. The results can show where service delivery is perceived to be lacking, where issues of equity may be worth considering - through cross-tabulations by a number of demographics including election districts - and where educational campaigns should be targeted.
The approach to administering the survey will be slightly different this year than in years past. The Town’s contract with ComEngage allows for continuous survey/engagement over a three-month period, conducted in three “waves.” Each wave will consist of a 10- to 12-minute survey. Over the course of the three waves, every household in Castle Rock will be invited by mail to participate in the scientific survey, which will have password-protected access. ComEngage will complete follow-ups by phone as necessary to ensure a respondent pool that demographically reflects the Town’s population.
The process planned for this year is different from the past process, in which there was one resident survey of 30 to 40 minutes in length, to which 15,000 Castle Rock households were invited to respond. The updated methodology offers all households the chance to participate and the potential for higher-quality responses, by segmenting the survey into shorter waves.
The methodology for this year’s business survey is planned to remain the same as in the past. Every Town-licensed business located within Castle Rock will be invited to participate in a roughly 10-minute survey. Town staff is working with community partners from the Castle Rock Chamber and Economic Development Council in determining what questions are best to recommend for the business survey.
Staff looks forward to discussing the survey drafts with Council next month and is available between now and then for more detailed conversations as desired. The 2021 resident (Attachment A) and business (Attachment B) surveys are attached for Council’s reference as they begin to consider this item.
Budget Impact
The Town’s contract with ComEngage is for up to $84,165. The Town Manager’s Office 2023 budget includes $75,000 for this project. The additional amount will be covered by unspent 2022 funds ($20,000) that were designated for survey purposes. The cost for this year’s survey is slightly higher than in the past, because roughly double the number of invitations will need to be printed and mailed in order to invite all households in Town to participate. The cost also includes a nominal $5 incentive to the first 500 households to complete more than one survey “wave.”
Attachments
Attachment A: 2021 resident survey
Attachment B: 2021 business survey