KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If you live in Kansas City, Missouri, you might receive a survey in the mail. It's your chance to let the city know how it's handling basic services such as trash collection, sidewalk maintenance and snow removal.
The survey is send out to a random but statistically significant group of 9,000 citizens throughout each fiscal year, and the end results are presented to the Kansas City Council in the summer.
"This is how we hear back from our residents in a really direct way, and it keeps us on our toes so we can see the trends, where we're doing well and where we need to improve," City Communications Director Chris Hernandez said.
For the past three years, citizens ranked maintenance of city streets, sidewalks and infrastructure as well as quality of police services as the top two services most important for the city to provide.
Yet the survey results for 2017-2018showed only a 22.7 percent satisfaction rate for streets, sidewalks and infrastructure. That number has been on a steady decline since 2015, and after a brutal winter, concerns will likely continue.
"I'm confident that if you asked 100 people that 99 of them would respond we need to fix the potholes," Danny Brooks, a lifelong KCMO resident, said.
The data impacts decisions made in City Hall, Hernandez said. The results were one impetus for the GO Bond program in 2017.
"That was people telling us through the survey, 'we really want you to do a better job of fixing the sidewalks. We want you to do more with the streets,'" Hernandez said.
It will take some time to see the statistical impact of the GO Bond program on overall citizen satisfaction.
The citizen survey also kickstarted the city's two-year initiative to eliminate blight by demolishing 800 dangerous buildings. Responses are playing a role in the city's recent discussion about moving trash collection in-house as well.
So if you're not happy with the services you're paying for, getting mail from the city could be a major plus.
"You should feel special that you have received this survey in the mail, and we want you to fill it out and return it because that's really a great way to make sure your tax dollars work in the way you want them to work," Hernandez said.
Data from the survey is used at monthly KCStat meetings, which are open to the public. Those meetings start at 9 a.m. on the first Tuesday of the month.
You can also view the results through this interactive dashboard.
