October 7, 2002

Media Contact:

Rosann Doran
Public Information Officer
303.438.6308

Tonya Haas
Assistant City and County Manager
303.438.6355

Results show that Broomfield enjoys top ratings from its residents in almost every category, according to a survey taken in June and July, delighting city officials. The survey, dubbed a "consumer report card for Broomfield," gave residents the chance to rate their satisfaction with Broomfield’s quality of life, amenities and local government.

"We were very pleased with the results of this survey, and we’re proud to share them," said City and County Manager George DiCiero. "It’s very rewarding to know that the work we do is appreciated by our residents."

No service other than access to affordable housing was rated below fair, and nearly 90 percent of the respondents indicated that the overall quality of life in Broomfield was "excellent" or "good."

Survey results were conveyed to the Broomfield City Council for the Oct. 8 regular City Council meeting.

The survey, conducted as a baseline for the new City and County of Broomfield, was sent to 2,892 households. The 1,407 responses ranked topics including quality of life,

community characteristics, city and county services, and employee contact. At 49 percent, the response rate, according to Assistant City and County Manager Tonya Haas, was "exceptional."

Overall quality of life in Broomfield was rated "excellent" or "good" by 86 percent of the respondents, placing Broomfield above the national norm as a place to live and raise children.

When asked to rate various aspects of trust in local government, respondents rated Broomfield's ability to listen to its citizens at 53, out of a possible 100. Other aspects of public trust received ratings around 60, and accessibility of city services rated an average of 66.

While 79 percent of respondents felt that services to seniors were "good" or "excellent," the only quality of life question where Broomfield was rated below the national norm was as a place to retire. Only 59 percent rated Broomfield as a place to retire as "good" or "excellent."

"While services to seniors were rated highly, Broomfield was not rated quite as highly as a place to retire, which may be related to the relatively low ratings for access to affordable housing, ranked as poor by 34 percent," according to Haas.

When asked about services provided by Broomfield, 83 percent said overall quality was "excellent" or "good." When compared to other Front Range communities, Broomfield ranked third of eight. A majority of respondents felt they received good value for the Broomfield taxes they pay.

According to survey results, the best services that Broomfield provides are library and police services, followed closely by the department of motor vehicles, water and sewer services. No services received ratings below "fair."

Broomfield received extremely positive ratings for safety, placing number one in the Front Range, in feeling of safety in neighborhoods. When compared to 330 other cities and counties across the nation, Broomfield ranked third in feeling of safety in neighborhoods, first in feeling of safety in parks during the day or night, and first in feeling of safety at the mall.

Respondents were asked to rate the importance of services provided by Broomfield. All received ratings significantly higher than "somewhat important." Almost half received ratings higher than "very important." Police services had the highest rating (94) followed by water (88) and sewer services (84).

When asked about the transition of government services from city to combined city and county, almost three-quarters of the respondents were "somewhat" or "very satisfied." In rating service provision, 43 percent said the felt the quality of service provision had improved, and 53 percent said they remained unchanged. Only 4 percent felt service provision had declined since the transition.

Sixty-eight percent of respondents reported that they had contact with city employees in the previous 12 months. Employees were given ratings between 70 and 75 on a 100 point scale and ranked second of 12 Front Range communities. Customer service aspects rated included knowledge, courtesy, responsiveness and overall impression, with 80 percent of the ratings as "excellent" or "good."

Areas of concern to respondents included traffic congestion, growth, property taxes and sales taxes. Population growth was rated as "somewhat too fast" and "much too fast" by 79 percent of the respondents. Traffic congestion was ranked by 72 percent of the respondents as a "major" or "moderate" problem.

Street repair and maintenance were ranked below the average rating of other Front Range cities, but only 10 percent of respondents ranked street conditions as a major problem, and 59 percent ranked street conditions as "minor" or "not a problem."

Access to affordable housing was broken out among respondents depending on whether they rented or owned their homes. Of the renters, 17 percent reported that it was excellent or good, and 83 percent that it was fair or poor. Homeowners reported at 28 percent that access to affordable housing was excellent or good, and 72 percent fair or poor. Rating Broomfield as a place to live, renters ranked it as excellent or good 82 percent of the time, and fair to poor 18 percent. Homeowners said it was excellent or good 93 percent of the time, and fair to poor 7 percent.

Respondents reported that they had a college degree (64 percent) or some college (88 percent). They were largely between the ages of 25 and 54 (77 percent), and 52 percent had children under 17 living at home. Most respondents, 77 percent, owned their homes.

Haas reported that Broomfield staff and City Council will consider the findings in the survey report when planning for programs in the upcoming budget year and may, with council approval, repeat the survey periodically to gauge whether improvements are being made where needed.

"Broomfield’s mission statement recognizes that the citizens of Broomfield are its customers. The intent of the survey was to hear from citizens in an effort to gauge their perceptions of City and County of Broomfield services," Haas said. "The City Manager’s Office and individual departments will carefully consider the results in program implementation and service delivery for the upcoming budget year."