Washoe County Citizen Survey December th Citizen Survey conducted since 1995 Statistically-valid; proportional to and representative of county population Administered by InfoSearch, a professional market research firm Cost was $17,500; same as previous survey, less than others Goal is to provide BCC and mgmt with info about issues important to citizens and use that info to provide better customer service

Washoe County Citizen Survey December 2010 Methodology: 650 Respondents: 600 General Citizens (120 per district) plus 50 Citizen Volunteer Group (CVG) members General citizens took a telephone survey, which averaged 12 minutes each, while CVG members took an online survey of the same content. Overall confidence interval was ± 3.8%.

Most Important Issue Facing Washoe County in 2010 Jobs rose from being the #3 issue in 2009 (behind the economy and budget) to the #1 issue in 2010.

Overall Rating of Washoe County Government 45% of respondents said Washoe County generally does a good or better job overall compared with 50% in The difference between the two time periods is not statistically significant.

2010 Budget Priorities for Washoe County Total Sample Highest Priority Not at All a Priority The results suggest that almost all County services are seen as important and needing funds; priorities are a matter of degree.

Significant Changes in Budget Priorities January 2009 to December 2010 Priority Declined: -0.2 Priority Levels Stable Priority Declined: -0.3 Priority Declined: -0.4

2010 Satisfaction with County Services Total Sample Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor Mean satisfaction ratings for all County services hovered around Good.

Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor Significant Changes in Satisfaction January 2009 to December 2010 Ratings Increased Ratings Were Statistically Stable Ratings Decreased

2010 Ratings of Services for Unincorporated Washoe County Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor None of these ratings changed significantly from January 2009 and rankings remained constant.

Perceived Change in Washoe County Service Levels With Budget Cuts Washoe County had reduced staff by 16% over the prior 18 months due to budget cuts. Overall, three out of five respondents (61%) perceived that the level of service had dropped to some degree.

Citizen Contact with County Employees: 72% had contact with a County employee in the prior 2 years, up from 59% in Methods of employee contact included in-person (82%), telephone (56%), internet/ (37%), and U.S. mail (25%). Among those who had contact, 72% said County employees were very courteous and 65% said they were very helpful. Communications: Overall, the primary sources of information about the County were personal experience (45%), newspapers (21%), and television (18%). 53% had used the Countys website, up from 42% in % said they would be likely to follow County information on social media sites Citizen Contact and Communications

Key Survey Points Responses broken down by demographics and constituencies. In general, involved citizens (CVG respondents) rated county services higher, were better able to name county services (awareness), noticed a drop in county service levels more due to budget cuts, used website more, had more contact with county employees both in person and electronically and watched more county programming. In general, college graduates and those with incomes of $75k or greater rated county services higher.

Website Use: Increase from Of those respondents in the age range, 60% use the website. Changes in website from past year include redesign and more online services. Contact: Increase since last survey reflective of increased demand for county services. Courteous: Similar rating to previous survey; speaks well of employees meeting increased citizen contacts with less workforce/resources available. Social Media: Of those in the age range, 30% said they would use this to get County information. Of those with incomes between 35-75k, 25% would use. Promising new way to reach audience that is increasingly harder to reach by traditional methods.