The city of Sammamish is, for the second time, participating in the National Citizen Survey in order to gather feedback from residents on the quality of life in the city.

In a press release from the city, acting city manager Glenn Akramoff announced the city would be participating in the survey this month. Sammamish previously conducted the survey in 2016. The surveys are sent to 2,200 randomly selected mailboxes during the month of August in order to get a broad, comprehensive view of various demographics.

NCS, a nationwide community survey program run by the National Research Center Inc., asks the community questions regarding management, services and policies enacted by the local government, as well as rating local government services and the resident use of the services.

According to the 2016 survey report, the process collects opinions within the categories of community characteristics, governance and participation, as they apply across eight different topics such as safety, mobility, environment, economy and education. The NRC also works with the city to implement more specific questions about that city that residents would feel is important.

Akramoff stated that the survey will allow the city to see community trends and perceptions over time, and how the government is performing relative to other local governments of similar size. He also stated that the city would be able to take the data collected into consideration as the biennial budget process begins in order to establish budget areas that are of high priority and to identify areas that need improvement.

The survey is a four-month process. In the first month, the city works with the NRC to develop the questionnaire. The second month is when the surveys are sent out and the third month is spent collecting and processing all of the data generated by the surveys. The final month is when the draft and final reports breaking down all of the information received is presented to the city.

In the 2016 summary provided by the NCS, the natural environment within community characteristics and the safety and built environment within participation, were rated higher than the average benchmark of comparable cities. Ratings for economy within community characteristics where lower than the benchmark. The city of Sammamish also has all of the 2016 NCS results available on their website at www.sammamish.us/community-involvement/community-outreach/national-citizen-survey.