HomeMy WebLinkAbout4.F.5. Authorize hiring of Morris Leatherman Company to conduct community wide survey Consent Business 4. F. 5.
SH.,\OOPEE
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Mark McNeill, City Administrator
DATE: 09/16/2014
SUBJECT: Authorize the Hiring of the Morris Leatherman Company to Conduct a
Community-wide Survey (B)
Action Sought
The Council should consider additional information, which is provided in response to questions
raised at the September 2nd workshop. If it concurs with the staff recommendation, it should
approve the hiring of the Morris-Leatherman Company to perform a community-wide survey of
perceptions and attitudes toward municipal services and projects.
Background
The attached information was considered by the Council at the last meeting.
During the time of discussion, questions were raised as to whether the duration of the survey was
too long for people to want to participate. There were also questions about whether the survey
might be done jointly with the Shakopee School District. There was also a question posed as to
whether on-line or mail-in surveys could be used instead.
I spoke with Bill Morris, the founder of Morris Leatherman. He said that the suburban surveys
administered by M-L typically take from 28 to 33 minutes to complete. He did note that one
survey got as long as 40 minutes in one of the communities, but there were no problems
encountered.
He said that once people agree to take a survey, there is a very low "in-process refusal rate"--he
thought about 6 people out of the 400 calls will choose to stop taking the survey while it is in
progress. He said that is part of why a professional surveyor is important--a company such as
M-L will mix up the questions, so as to keep people's interest.
In general, he said that people like to talk about the area in which they live. He said that there is a
non-completion rate below 5% in the suburbs--by that he meant that if it is inconvenient for
someone to take the survey when the surveyor calls, they are asked for a time in which the
surveyor could call back. If people choose not to answer the phone at that time, that is termed an
"incomplete survey".
I spoke with Mr. Morris about alternatives to telephone calls, such as on-line or mail-in surveys.
He said that those methods make it much more difficult to control bias. As a result, the results
will not be accurate. Certain segments of the population are not as likely to be "plugged-in"
electronically, which may skew the results. However, almost everyone has a telephone
connection, either land line or cellular.
I also asked the Superintendent of Schools if the School District would be interested in
participating. I will advise the Council of the response, once it is received.
Recommendation
In order to do a good job with the Council's desire to start performance measurement, the City of
Shakopee needs a baseline from which to begin. Having statistically-valid survey results is
critical to that end. Therefore, I recommend hiring Morris Leatherman to perform the City-wide
telephone survey, at an amount not to exceed $22,000.
Note that the $22,000 is probably on the high side--the actual amount will depend upon the
number of questions asked, and the desire to stay with a+/- accuracy rate of 5%.
Budget Impact
The costs of this survey would be charged to the City Council's portion of the 2014 budget.
If the Council chooses to go ahead, a follow-up survey would not necessarily need to be done
annually, although some cities do do that. M-L stated that more typical cycle is every two to four
years, with cities of faster rates of growth often opting for the every other year alternative.
Relationship To Visioning
This supports Goal B, "Positively manage the challenges and opportunities presented by growth,
development and change."
Requested Action
If the Council concurs, it should, by motion, authorize the hiring of Morris Leatherman to perform
a community-wide survey, at an amount not to exceed $22,000.
Attachments: Proposal
Sample Survey
The Morris Leatherman Company
3128 Dean Court
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55416
August 20, 2014
Mr. Mark McNeill
City of Shakopee
129 Holmes Street South
Shakopee,Minnesota 55379
Dear Mark:
The Morris Leatherman Company is pleased to present this survey research proposal to you for
the City of Shakopee. This prospectus is organized in three parts: a potential design;project
schedule; and, estimated project costs. As you will see, I am certain that we can provide the City
of Shakopee with the information it seeks in both a cost-effective and timely manner.
DESIGN OF THE RESEARCH:
The Morris Leatherman Company proposes to conduct a telephone survey of 400 randomly
selected households in the City of Shakopee. A sample of 400 residents would provide results
projectable to the entire city adult population within± 5.0 percent in 95 out of 100 cases. The
sample is also of sufficient size to permit the city to be divided into a maximum of four
categories for more detailed analysis, such as age, mobility,home ownership, location of
residence,presence of children, and other demographic characteristics.
To insure the integrity of the sample,the Morris Leatherman Company places the most exacting
sampling standards in the industry on our procedures. MLC uses a mix of random digit dial
landline and cell phone numbers. Before an alternate household is substituted for a designated
target, at least ten tries are made to contact the initial households during a five-day period. The
telephone calls take place during various times on weekday evenings and during the weekend.
Our interviewers are also instructed to seek convenient appointments with interviewees, cutting
our non-contact rate to less than five percent on average. An unbiased selection process is also
used to identify the adult member of the household to be interviewed. To validate the completed
sample,the latest United States Census updated population characteristics are utilized as a
standard of comparison.
City of Shakopee
Residential Survey Research Proposal
August 2014
The questionnaire would be administered by company trained and supervised personnel. The
computer analysis will be obtained from our in-house C-MENTOR and SPSS statistical analysis
systems, insuring both access to the most current analysis programs and confidentiality of the
data set.
The City of Shakopee will be presented with bound copies of the final report highlighting all the
major findings of the study. The Morris Leatherman Company will also speak to any major
differences from and similarities with the past studies of the community, when applicable, in
addition to other maturing communities. A volume of all computer-generated cross tabulations
and other multivariate statistical techniques will also be included.
PROJECT SCHEDULE:
1. Planning with City Council Members, City Staff, and/or relevant individuals to establish the
topics to be covered in the survey. Based on these topic concepts,the Morris Leatherman
Company would word specific, neutral questions. This activity can be completed by a meeting,
telephone and/or fax, depending on client wishes,within two weeks of the initiation of the
contract.
2. Structuring of questions and final approval of the survey instrument. These activities are
usually completed within three weeks of the discussion of topics to be covered in the survey.
3. Final determination of the field dates for interviewing.
4. Pre-testing and, if needed, approval of resulting revisions. This activity is usually completed
by the second day of fieldwork.
5. Completion of all fieldwork within a two-to-three week period.
6. Computer analysis and preparation of written report. All analytical tests and commentary will
be available within six weeks after completion of the fieldwork.
7. Delivery of the final written report to the City of Shakopee, including presentation graphics.
Afterwards,telephone consultation, as the need arises,will be provided about the study's
findings and implications.
PROJECT COSTS:
The cost of a survey is driven by two factors: sample size and questionnaire length. The cost to
conduct a 50 question unit survey would be $13,000.00. Each additional question unit beyond
the initial allotment would be $135.00. The typical city survey is generally between 120 and
150 questions with an estimated cost of between $18,000 and $22,000.
City of Shakopee
Residential Survey Research Proposal
August 2014
As company policy,the Morris Leatherman Company requires one-half of the cost prior to the
commencement of fieldwork;the remainder is due upon delivery of the final written report.
Unless otherwise arranged,the Morris Leatherman Company invoices clients for the initial
payment at the time of the initiation of the contract; the remainder is due at the time of the receipt
of the final written report.
If you require any further information from us, feel free to contact either Bill Morris, Diane
Traxler, or me. We look forward to the opportunity to work with the City of Shakopee.
Sincerely,
Pete% ..daidezotao
Peter Leatherman
THE MORRIS LEATHERMAN COMPANY City of
3128 Dean Court Residential Survey
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55416 PROTOTYPE SURVEY
Hello, I 'm of the Morris Leatherman Company, a polling
firm located in Minneapolis. We have been retained by the City of
to speak with a random sample of residents about
issues facing the community. This survey is being conducted
because the City Council and City Staff are interested in your
opinions and suggestions about current and future city needs . I
want to assure you that all individual responses will be held
strictly confidential; only summaries of the entire sample will
be reported.
1 . Approximately how many years have LESS THAN TWO YEARS 1
you lived in ? TWO TO FIVE YEARS 2
FIVE TO TEN YEARS 3
TEN TO TWENTY YEARS 4
20 TO 30 YEARS 5
OVER THIRTY YEARS 6
DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 7
2 . As things now stand, how long in LESS THAN TWO YEARS 1
the future do you expect to TWO TO FIVE YEARS 2
live in ? FIVE TO TEN YEARS 3
OVER TEN YEARS 4
REST OF LIFE 5
DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 6
3 . What do you like most, if anything, about living in
4 . What do you think is the most serious issue facing
today?
5. How would you rate the quality of EXCELLENT 1
life in -- excel- GOOD 2
lent, good, only fair, or poor? ONLY FAIR 3
POOR 4
DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 5
6. Over the next five years or so, do INCREASE 1
you expect the quality of life in DECREASE 2
to increase, decrease, or REMAIN ABOUT SAME 3
remain about the same? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 4
IF "INCREASE" OR "DECREASE, " ASK:
7 . Could you tell me one or two reasons why you feel that
way?
8 . Which of the following two state- STATEMENT A 1
ments comes closer to your STATEMENT B 2
feelings: BOTH OF ABOVE 3
(A) I call NEITHER 4
"home. " DON' T KNOW/REFUSED 5
(B) is just a
place to live; I 'd be just as
happy elsewhere.
9. How would you rate the strength of EXCELLENT 1
community identity and the sense GOOD 2
of neighborliness in ONLY FAIR 3
-- excellent, good, only POOR 4
fair or poor? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 5
10 . To which of the following do you STATEMENT A 1
feel a closer connection to: STATEMENT B 2
A) The City of as STATEMENT C 3
a whole, NONE OF ABOVE 4
B) Your neighborhood, or DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 5
C) Your school district?
11 . All in all, do you think things in RIGHT DIRECTION 1
are generally WRONG TRACK 2
headed in the right direction, or DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 3
do you feel things are off on the
wrong track?
I would like to read you a list of characteristics of a community.
For each one, please tell me if you think
currently has too many or too much, too few or too little, or
about the right amount.
MANY FEW/ ABOUT D.K. /
MUCH LITT RIGHT REF.
12 . affordable housing, defined by
the Metropolitan Council as a
single family home costing less
than $ ? 1 2 3 4
13. affordable rental units? 1 2 3 4
14 . luxury rental units? 1 2 3 4
15. condominiums? 1 2 3 4
16. townhouses? 1 2 3 4
17. starter homes for young families? 1 2 3 4
18 . "move up" housing? 1 2 3 4
19. higher cost housing? 1 2 3 4
20. senior housing? 1 2 3 4
21 . parks and open spaces? 1 2 3 4
22 . trails and bikeways? 1 2 3 4
23. service establishments? 1 2 3 4
24 . retail shopping opportunities? 1 2 3 4
25. entertainment establishments? 1 2 3 4
26. dining establishments? 1 2 3 4
27 . day care opportunities? 1 2 3 4
Property tax revenues are divided among the City of ,
County, and your local public school district.
28 . For each dollar of the property TEN PERCENT OR LESS 1
taxes you pay, about what per- 11 TO 20 PERCENT 2
centage do you think goes to 21 TO 30 PERCENT 3
city government? (READ #1-#6) 31 TO 40 PERCENT 4
41 TO 50 PERCENT 5
OVER 50 PERCENT 6
DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 7
29. Do you consider the city portion VERY HIGH 1
of your property taxes to be SOMEWHAT HIGH 2
very high, somewhat high, about ABOUT AVERAGE 3
average, somewhat low, or very low SOMEWHAT LOW 4
in comparison with neighboring VERY LOW 5
cities? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 6
In 200_, the actual percentage of your property taxes going to
the City of was twenty percent.
30. Would you favor or oppose an in- FAVOR 1
crease in YOUR city property tax OPPOSE 2
if it were needed to maintain city DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 3
services at their current level?
31. And, would you favor or oppose an FAVOR 1
increase in YOUR city property tax OPPOSE 2
if it were used to improve and en- DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 3
hance current city services?
32 . When you consider the property EXCELLENT 1
taxes you pay and the quality of GOOD 2
city services you receive, would ONLY FAIR 3
you rate the general value of city POOR 4
services as excellent, good, only DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 5
fair, or poor?
I would like to read you a list of a few city services . For
each one, please tell me whether you would rate the quality of
the service as excellent, good, only fair, or poor? (ROTATE)
EXCL GOOD FAIR POOR DK/R
33 . Police protection? 1 2 3 4 5
34 . Fire protection? 1 2 3 4 5
35. Recycling and brush pick-up? 1 2 3 4 5
36. Storm drainage and flood
control? 1 2 3 4 5
37 . Park maintenance? 1 2 3 4 5
38 . City-sponsored recreation
programs? 1 2 3 4 5
39. Animal control? 1 2 3 4 5
Now, for the next three city services, please consider only
their job on city-maintained street and roads. That means
excluding interstate highways, state and county roads that are
taken care of by other levels of government. Hence, Interstate
, Highway , Highway , County Road or
, should not be considered. How would you rate
EXCL GOOD FAIR POOR DK/R
40. City street repair and
maintenance? 1 2 3 4 5
41 . Snow plowing? 1 2 3 4 5
42 . Street lighting? 1 2 3 4 5
Now, I would like to re-read you that list of city services. For
each one, please tell me if you consider it be an essential city
service, a very important city service, a somewhat important city
service, or not a very important service at all.
ESS VRI SMI NVI DKR
43. Police protection? 1 2 3 4 5
44 . Fire protection? 1 2 3 4 5
45 . Recycling and brush pick-up? 1 2 3 4 5
46. Storm drainage and flood
control? 1 2 3 4 5
47 . Park maintenance? 1 2 3 4 5
48 . City-sponsored recreation
programs? 1 2 3 4 5
49. Animal control? 1 2 3 4 5
50. City street repair and
maintenance? 1 2 3 4 5
51. Snow plowing? 1 2 3 4 5
52 . Street lighting? 1 2 3 4 5
Now, for the final time I am going to read the list of city
services. Given the current economic and financial environment,
the city may have to make some additional tough choices in the
next couple of years with respect to scaling back or eliminating
certain city services. For each of the following please tell me
if you would support an increase in funding for the service, keep
the funding for the service at its current level, make cuts in the
funding for the service, or eliminate funding for the service.
(ROTATE)
INC CUR ELM CUT DKR
53 . Police protection? 1 2 3 4 5
54 . Fire protection? 1 2 3 4 5
55. Recycling and brush pick-up? 1 2 3 4 5
56. Storm drainage and flood
control? 1 2 3 4 5
57 . Park maintenance? 1 2 3 4 5
58 . City-sponsored recreation
programs? 1 2 3 4 5
59. Animal control? 1 2 3 4 5
60. City street repair and
maintenance? 1 2 3 4 5
61 . Snow plowing? 1 2 3 4 5
62 . Street lighting? 1 2 3 4 5
Thinking about another topic. . . .
63. Are there areas in the City of YES 1
where you do not feel NO 2
safe? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 3
IF "YES, " ASK:
64 . In which areas do you not feel safe?
65. What would make you feel more safe?
66. Do you feel safe in your immediate YES 1
neighborhood walking alone at NO 2
night? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 3
67 . Do you generally feel safe in your YES 1
home? NO 2
DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 3
68 . How would you rate the amount of TOO MUCH 1
police patrolling in your neigh- ABOUT RIGHT AMOUNT 2
borhood -- too much, about the NOT ENOUGH 3
right amount or not enough? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 4
69. How would you rate the amount of TOO MUCH 1
traffic enforcement by the police ABOUT RIGHT AMOUNT 2
in your neighborhood -- too much, NOT ENOUGH 3
about right amount or not enough? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 4
70. How serious of a problem is traf- VERY SERIOUS 1
fic speeding in your neighborhood SOMEWHAT SERIOUS 2
-- very serious, somewhat serious, NOT TOO SERIOUS 3
not too serious, or not at all NOT AT ALL SERIOUS 4
serious? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 5
71 . And, how serious of a problem are VERY SERIOUS 1
stop sign violations in your nei- SOMEWHAT SERIOUS 2
ghborhood -- very serious, some- NOT TOO SERIOUS 3
what serious, not too serious, or NOT AT ALL SERIOUS 4
not at all serious? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 5
72 . Please tell me which one you consider to be the greatest
concern in ? If you feel that none of these
problems are serious in , just say so.
Violent crime 0
Traffic speeding 1
Drugs 2
Youth crimes and vandalism 3
Identity theft 4
Business crimes, such as shoplifting
and check fraud 5
Residential crimes, such as burglary,
and theft 6
ALL EQUALLY 7
NONE OF THE ABOVE 8
DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 9
Continuing. . . .
The park system is composed of larger community
parks and smaller neighborhood parks, trails, and community
ballfields . Of these facilities, which have you or members of
your household used during the past year?
YES NO DKR
73. Larger community parks? 1 2 3
74 . Smaller neighborhood parks? 1 2 3
75. Trails? 1 2 3
76. Community ballfields? 1 2 3
77 . In general, do you feel that YES 1
existing recreational facilities NO 2
offered by the City meet the DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 3
needs of you and members of
your household?
IF "NO, " ASK:
78 . What additional recreational facilities would you like
to see the City offer its residents?
79. Have you or members of your house- YES 1
hold participated in any City NO 2
park and recreation programs? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 3
IF "YES, " ASK:
80. Which ones?
81. Were you satisfied or dis- SATISFIED 1
satisfied with your exper- DISSATISFIED 2
ience? DON' T KNOW/REFUSED 3
82 . Does the current mix of City park YES 1
and recreation programming meet NO 2
the needs of your household? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 3
IF "NO, " ASK:
83. What program(s) do you feel are lacking?
84 . Do you or members of your household currently leave the city
for park and recreation facilities or activities? (IF
"YES, " ASK: ) What would that be?
Moving on. . . .
85. Do you leave the City of YES 1
on a regular or daily NO 2
basis to go to work? NOT EMPLOYED/RETIRED3
DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 4
IF "YES, " ASK:
86. In what city is your job located?
87 . How many minutes does it take FIVE MINUTES OR LESS1
you to get to work? SIX TO TEN MINUTES 2
11 TO 15 MINUTES 3
16 TO 20 MINUTES 4
21 TO 25 MINUTES 5
26 TO 30 MINUTES 6
OVER 30 MINUTES 7
DON' T KNOW/REFUSED 8
88 . How would you rate the ease EXCELLENT 1
of getting to and from work GOOD 2
-- excellent, good, only fair ONLY FAIR 3
or poor? POOR 4
DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 5
89. How would you rate the ease of EXCELLENT 1
getting from place to place within GOOD 2
the City of -- ex- ONLY FAIR 3
cellent, good, only fair or poor? POOR 4
DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 5
Changing topics . . . .
90. Other than voting, do you feel YES 1
that if you wanted to, you could NO 2
have a say about the way the City DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 3
of runs things?
91. How much do you feel you know A GREAT DEAL 1
about the work of the Mayor and A FAIR AMOUNT 2
City Council -- a great deal, a VERY LITTLE 3
fair amount, very little, or none NONE AT ALL 4
at all? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 5
92 . From what you know, do you approve STRONGLY APPROVE 1
or disapprove of the job the Mayor APPROVE 2
and City Council are doing? (WAIT DISAPPROVE 3
FOR RESPONSE) And do you feel STRONGLY DISAPPROVE 4
strongly that way? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 5
93. How much first hand contact have QUITE A LOT 1
you had with the SOME 2
City staff -- quite a lot, some, VERY LITTLE 3
very little, or none? NONE 4
DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 5
94 . From what you have heard or seen, EXCELLENT 1
how would you rate the job per- GOOD 2
formance of the ONLY FAIR 3
City staff -- excellent, good, POOR 4
only fair, or poor? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 5
95. During the past year, have you YES 1
contacted City Hall? NO 2
DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 3
IF "YES, " ASK:
96. On your last telephone call POLICE DEPARTMENT 1
or visit, which Department FIRE DEPARTMENT 2
did you contact -- the Police PUBLIC WORKS 3
Department, Fire Department, ICE CENTER 4
Public Works, Ice Center, HOUSING OFFICE 5
Housing office, Park and Rec- PARKS AND REC 6
reation, Building Inspec- BUILDING INSPECT 7
tions, Engineering, Planning, ENGINEERING 8
Administration, the Asses- PLANNING 9
sor' s Office, the Finance ADMINISTRATION 10
Department, or the General ASSESSOR' S OFFICE 11
Information Desk reception- FINANCE DEPT 12
ist? GENERAL INFORMATION13
DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 14
Thinking about your last contact with the City, for each of
the following characteristics, please rate the service as
excellent, good, only fair, or poor. . . .
EXC GOO FAI POO DKR
97 . Waiting time for the reception-
ist to help you? 1 2 3 4 5
98 . Courtesy of city staff? 1 2 3 4 5
99. Ease of obtaining the service
you needed? 1 2 3 4 5
Moving on
100. What is your principal source of information about
City Government and its activities?
101 . How would you prefer to receive information about
City Government and its activities?
102 . During the past year, did you YES 1
receive the " NO 2
, " the City' s monthly news- DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 3
letter?
IF "YES, " ASK:
103. Do you or any members of your YES 1
household regularly read it? NO 2
DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 3
104 . Do you sometimes clip the en- SOMETIMES CLIP 1
tire page or a specific ar- THROW AWAY/RECYCLE 2
title for future reference, BOTH 3
or do you throw it away or DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 4
recycle after you have read
it?
105. Does your household currently sub- YES 1
scribe to cable television? NO 2
DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 3
IF "YES, " ASK:
106. How often during the past FREQUENTLY 1
year have you watched OCCASIONALLY 2
City Council Meeting RARELY 3
telecasts on Channel -- NEVER 4
frequently, occasionally, DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 5
rarely or never?
107 . Do you have access to the Internet HOME ONLY 1
at home? (WAIT FOR RESPONSE) Do WORK ONLY 2
you have access to the Internet BOTH 3
at work? NEITHER 4
DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 5
IF "YES, " ASK:
108 . Have you accessed the City' s YES 1
website? NO 2
DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 3
IF "YES, " ASK:
109. Were you able to find YES 1
what you were looking NO 2
for? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 3
110. What information would you like to see on the City of
' s web site?
Now, just a few more questions for demographic purposes . . . .
Could you please tell me how many people in each of the following
age groups live in your household.
111 . Persons 65 or over? NONE 1
ONE 2
TWO OR MORE 3
112 . Adults under 65? NONE 1
ONE 2
TWO 3
THREE OR MORE 4
113 . School-aged children and pre- NONE 1
schoolers? ONE 2
TWO 3
THREE OR MORE 4
114 . Do you own or rent your present OWN 1
residence? RENT 2
REFUSED 3
115. What is your age, please? 18-24 1
(READ CATEGORIES, IF NEEDED) 25-34 2
35-44 3
45-54 4
55-64 5
65 AND OVER 6
And now, for one final question, keeping in mind that your answers
are held strictly confidential.. . .
116. Is your pre-tax yearly household UNDER $50, 000 1
income over or under $75, 000? $50, 001-$75, 000 2
IF "OVER, " ASK: $75, 001-$100, 000 3
Is it over $100, 000? (IF "YES, " $100, 000-$125, 000 4
ASK: ) Is it over $125, 000? OVER $125, 000 5
IF "UNDER, " ASK: DON'T KNOW/REFUSED 6
Is it under $50, 000?
117 . Gender (DO NOT ASK) MALE 1
FEMALE 2
118 . REGION OF CITY