The Regional District is making progress in their effort to improve the customer experience of their citizens

The Regional District conducted a survey to measure the satisfaction of citizens in the eight electoral areas in April of this year and released the results of the survey earlier today.

“A Key Success Indicator for our organization is to improve the customer experience” stated Mark Pendergraft, Chair of the Regional District. “We gather this information so the Board can make informed decisions about where to best apply our resources in the future to make the biggest difference for our citizens”. The Regional District surveys citizens in its electoral areas every 2nd year.

400 residents were randomly selected to share their opinions and ideas about the Regional District as their local government with respect to Quality of Life, Service Satisfaction, Environment, Communications, Information Technology, and Fiscal Responsibility.

Overall satisfaction ratings indicated 80% of our residents rate the quality of life in their community as excellent. 72% rate it as an excellent place to raise children, and 80% rate the Regional District as an excellent place to retire. 62% agree the Regional District is doing a good job overall.

60% of our citizens believe they get good value for taxes paid. When asked, 70% of our citizens prefer that we offer the same level of service at the same level of taxation while 8% would prefer that we reduce the current level of service. Asked whether they might support a tax increase, 16% said they would support an increase for increased service.

Chair Mark Pendergraft said the survey results are an important part of the Regional District’s Strategic Plan. “The Regional District Board and staff will use this feedback to guide the organization’s decision-making and financial planning processes”.

As a next step in the Citizen Survey process, the Regional District will now review the statistical and narrative results and determine areas that need to be addressed. This information is used in the Strategic Planning and Budgeting processes for the Board.

In addition to the telephone Citizen Survey, an online Citizen Survey was conducted. The online survey was added as another way to determine the satisfaction of residents within the Regional District and to incorporate an accurate reading from all citizen demographics. 198 citizens were surveyed by online survey.

The complete report on the 2014 Citizen Survey is available for download from the Regional District website at www.rdos.bc.ca.