City says satisfaction with city services at all-time high

Northeast News
Aug. 13, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — The city ask and its residents responded with positivity.

On Thursday, Aug, 13, Mayor Sly James and City Manager Troy Schulte unveiled the city’s 2014-15 Citizen Satisfaction Survey results, which show statistical improvements in 34 categories, including increases in satisfaction with eight of nine high-level questions and eight out of 15 overall service area questions. Citizen satisfaction with overall quality of services provided by the city is at 60 percent, seven percent above the average for Missouri/Kansas cities and 10 above above the average for U.S. cities greater than 250K in population.

In a press release announcing the results, James said satisfaction with Kansas City’s services is at its highest level since the city began the survey in 2001.

“These results show that our employees’ perseverance and hard work are paying off,” James said.

The annual Citizen Satisfaction Survey looks at how residents rate the city, providing valuable input on what the city is doing well and what needs improvement. Kansas City uses this data, along with resident feedback, to improve processes and better allocate resources. In 2012, the City Council adopted several indicators that rely on citizen survey data as part of their strategic priorities to help monitor improvements on their goals. Schulte added the city now offers more way to access city services, including tools like the 311 Call Center. The city’s Performance Management team presented the complete survey results to the City Council during its Business Session on Thursday, Aug. 13.

This year’s survey, administered between August 2014 and May 2015, revealed statistically significant improvements in 34 questions, no change in 39 questions and a decline in 23 questions.

Report highlights include:

Quality of services provided by the city is at 60 percent (+ 4.8 percent since 2013-14 Survey)
Service increases since the last Citizen Satisfaction Survey:
Quality of police services (+ 3 percent)
Quality of Health Department services (+ 2.6 percent)
Maintenance of streets, sidewalks and infrastructure (+ 2.4 percent)
City parks and recreation programs and facilities (+ 2.2 percent)
Effectiveness of city communication with the public (+ 2.1 percent)
Quality of the city’s 311 service (+ 2 percent)
Quality of customer service from city employees (+ 1.9 percent)
Quality of city water utilities (+ 1.8 percent)
Satisfaction decreases since the last Citizen Satisfaction Survey:
Airport services
Quality of Animal Control (- 2.3 percent)
Preventing spread of infectious diseases (- 6.9 percent )
Mowing and Tree trimming (- 3.8 percent)
Sign removal (- 2.1 percent)