This is a satisfaction survey conducted this year for the Regional District Okanagan Similkameen.

94% of phone survey respondents were homeowners, compared to the same figure in 2014, 89% in 2012, and 91% in 2010 and 88% of those surveyed have lived in the Regional District more than five years, exactly the same percentage as in 2014 and 2012, and up 1% over 2010. 99% of respondents listed the RDOS as their principal place of residence.

There was an equal split in gender of respondents while in 2014, 41% of respondents were male and 59% were female. 32% of citizens were 65 years of age or older, 46% were aged 40–64, while only 23% were 18-39 years of age.

OVERALL SATISFACTION RATING

In 2017, as in 2014 80% of citizens rate the overall quality of life in their community as excellent, compared to 77% in 2012, and 81% in 2010. 75% rate their community as an excellent place to raise children with the highest rating going to Electoral Area “E”, closely followed by Area “C”. 80% rate the Regional District as an excellent place to retire.

Online Survey – 74 % of citizens are satisfied or very satisfied with their overall quality of life in their community. 64% of citizens are satisfied or very satisfied with their community as a place to raise children, and 70% of citizens are satisfied or very satisfied with the Regional District as a place to retire.

CORPORATE PERFORMANCE

58% of Regional District citizens indicate they believe they receive good value for the taxes they pay, down from 60% in 2014, 62% in 2012, and up from 5.7% in 2010. When citizens were asked which methods the Regional District could use to involve citizens more in policy making, development planning and budget process, in the phone survey, citizens indicated that public meetings or public hearings, followed closely by contact with Regional District staff were most important.

This would seem to support the Regional District’s increasing focus on community engagement and the need for the Regional District to get out into each community more frequently. In the online survey, citizens ranked public opinion surveys much higher than other methods.

COMMUNICATIONS

Only 37% of our citizens responding to the phone survey, have had personal contact with the Regional District over the past year, the majority of that by phone. 62% of our citizens surveyed use social media and 54 % look to the RDOS website for information. When citizens were asked how they learn about local government issues 44% said by newspaper, 37% by word of mouth, neighbours, and 22% from RDOS publications. Online Survey – 71% of citizens have had personal contact with the Regional District over the past year, the majority of that being via email.

65% of citizens responding online use social media. When citizens were asked how they learn about local government issues 57% said by newspaper, 46% word of mouth (neighbours, friends), and 50% said from the RDOS website.