Surprising no one, roads continue to be top of mind for residents contacted for a public opinion poll as part of the city's budget process.
Between July 2 and July 5, research company Mustel Group conducted a telephone survey of 400 residents to gauge opinion on city priorities.
According to results, which will be presented to city council's finance and audit committee this afternoon, 35 per cent of respondents identified road maintenance as the most important issue facing the city. That was followed distantly by snow removal, listed as the most important by 13 per cent of respondents.
Last year, the city paid the Mustel Group to poll 300 residents over the phone in early November. In the 2013 survey, roads was the top-of-mind issue for 18 per cent of respondents while snow removal only struck a chord for eight per cent, beat out by the 10 per cent most concerned with taxes and utility fees and nine per cent focused on fiscal responsibility and employee salaries.
This year, when asked to rank a list of city services (without road maintenance as an option), snow removal, the drinking water supply and police and fire protection were the top priorities.
Snow control was also the service respondents would most like to see increased (18 per cent), followed by road maintenance and garbage collection and recycling. A question about which services respondents would like to see decreased was not met with many suggestions, with only three per cent suggesting cuts to recreation facilities and programs.
If comes down to cutting services or raising taxes, the survey suggests the majority of respondents would prefer raising taxes. Thirty-four per cent of participants indicated they would prefer a two to three per cent tax increase with no cuts to services. This was followed by 30 per cent of respondents who wanted a less-than two per cent increase with some cuts to services and 14 per cent who would rather see a budget with no tax increase but significant cuts to service. Eleven per cent indicated a willingness to take on a tax increase of more than three per cent if it came with service improvements, while the remaining 10 per cent didn't offer an opinion.
The survey was accurate 9.5 times out of 10, with a margin of error of plus or minus five per cent.
The first council meeting to discuss the 2015 budget is scheduled for Oct. 22.
