Survey shows Joplin residents' priorities for city budgeting

(From the City of Joplin)

In a survey conducted earlier this year, citizens were asked to address what truly matters to them as they think about their city of residence? This survey, part of the Priority Based Budgeting (PBB) process recently adopted by the City of Joplin, is the citizen engagement portion of PBB which helps ensure that resources are allocated in the best way to meet the needs of citizens.

The survey asked citizens how they would rank seven priorities, and provided an opportunity to participate in the City’s budgeting process. The input received will influence how the City invests in and achieves each result. The priorities listed in the survey were determined through an analysis of City planning documents and in consultation with City Council and City staff.

Of the seven categories listed in the survey, citizens prioritized these with their votes as shown in the listing below:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Question (paraphrased):
You have 700 votes to allocate to these priorities, that defines "Why" Joplin exists as an organization, to serve the community. Where would you place your votes?

Below are the priorities in their ranking of preference. Following each listing are three numbers. The first number indicates total number of supporters; the second number is the percentage of supporters; and the final number shows the total points scored from all who took the survey (322).

1.) SAFE, SECURE and PREPARED COMMUNITY 284 88% 74,074

2.) VIBRANT LOCAL ECONOMY with a THRIVING WORKFORCE 284 88% 31,720

4.) ATTRACTIVE and HEALTHY PLACE TO LIVE with DIVERSE NEIGHBORHOODS,
QUALITY SCHOOLS and STRONG COMMUNITY PRIDE 257 80% 27,577

5.) RELIABLE INFRASTRUCTURE & EFFECTIVE, CONNECTED MOBILITY 262 81% 27,494

3.) ACCESS TO PARKS, CULTURE, RECREATION, LIFE-LONG LEARNING & LEISURE-TIME ACTIVITIES 219 68% 20,894

6.) ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH, SUSTAINABILITY and RESOURCE PRESERVATION
220 68% 15,982

7.) WELL-PLANNED, WELL-MANAGED and WELL-REGULATED RECOVERY, REBUILDING and GROWTH 204 63% 14,903

TOTALS 322 n/a 212,644
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"By looking at many factors of the City’s operations, Priority Based Budgeting starts to identify services areas that are important to our community,” said City Manager Sam Anselm. “As we go through this process, we’re looking at all programs and services and the significance they hold with our citizens. With these priorities defined, City Council can better allocate our resources to make sure we’re spending money on the programs that the community feels are most important. This will help better manage the broad number of services we provide, while recognizing our budget constraints.”

Budget work sessions are scheduled in September, and the Council will be addressing these priorities at that time. “Between now and then, City staff still has more work to do in identifying costs of programs and services through the PBB process, in order to do a thorough evaluation of City services,” added Anselm.