2006 Citizen Survey Results

CITY GOVERNMENT

For most items regarding informing, listening or responding to citizens, survey respondents rated the City’s performance as average. One exception was in informing citizens about programs and services, which received a mean rating of good. Performance in informing citizens about City issues and problems received a rating of average that bordered on good (Figure 12 and Table 8).

As in past surveys, respondents gave the lowest ratings to considering citizens’ opinions before making decisions. A few respondents (less than 1%) wrote comments saying that the City’s decisions did not reflect citizen wishes, or that the City should seek more public input on issues.

0 to 12 = very bad, 13 to 37 = bad, 38 to 62 = average, 63 to 87 = good, 88 to 100 = very good

RATINGS FOR INFORMING, LISTENING AND RESPONDING
Table 8
	Very Good	Good	Average	Bad	Very Bad	No Opinion
Informing citizens about City programs and services	10.4%	40.3%	37.2%	6.2%	0.6%	5.2%
Informing citizens about City issues and problems	8.8%	37.9%	38.3%	7.1%	1.3%	6.6%
Accessibility of City management	4.1%	18.7%	30.0%	7.8%	1.5%	37.9%
Accessibility of elected officials	4.3%	18.4%	30.3%	7.9%	1.9%	35.1%
Listening to citizens' opinions and concerns	4.6%	25.7%	35.6%	11.6%	3.6%	19.0%
Responding to citizens' opinions and concerns	2.3%	19.1%	38.8%	14.8%	4.1%	21.0%
Considering citizens' opinions before making decisions	2.2%	18.3%	35.0%	16.2%	6.1%	22.3%

Respondents rated overall City management as average, with no statistically significant change from the past two surveys. All other attributes of City management were also rated average, with one exception.

Respondents rated the City’s performance as bad (bordering on average) in maintaining Fort Collins’ status as the retail hub of northern Colorado (Figure 13 and Table 9). Considering that 65 percent of respondents in the 2003 survey expressed either support or strong support of efforts by the City to maintain this status, the City’s efforts have clearly not met residents’ expectations.

Some respondents wrote comments regarding City management, which are summarized below.

City should become more business-friendly 3%
City government needs to become more efficient 2%
City needs to do better managing retail and residential growth 2%

0 to 12 = very bad, 13 to 37 = bad, 38 to 62 = average, 63 to 87 = good, 88 to 100 = very good

CITY MANAGEMENT RATINGS
Table 9
	Very Good	Good	Average	Bad	Very Bad	No Opinion
Efficient operation of programs and services	2.5%	20.1%	43.6%	8.1%	3.2%	22.4%
Ease of transacting business with the City	2.7%	20.2%	35.4%	9.3%	4.7%	27.7%
Allocating financial resources among programs and services	1.1%	15.4%	41.3%	12.7%	4.7%	24.7%
Managing and planning for growth	2.3%	15.0%	34.7%	21.4%	11.7%	14.9%
Maintaining Fort Collins' status as the retail hub of northern Colorado	1.9%	13.2%	27.5%	29.9%	15.9%	11.6%
Overall City management	2.7%	28.2%	46.9%	8.0%	2.4%	11.7%

About The Survey

Methods Demographics Key Findings Download All Survey Results (PDF-59pgs/2.2MBK)

Detailed Results

Fort Collins as a Community Environment Neighborhood Community Safety Transportation> City GovernmentCustomer Service Recreation and Culture Communication City Budget Priorities Comments Survey Instrument

Past Surveys

2001 Citizen Survey 2003 Citizen Survey