HAMILTON — Hamiltonians are fairly happy with town services, according to a recent survey.
The survey, completed by roughly 150 people in February and March, questioned residents on their satisfaction with everything from the hours Town Hall is open to police response time.
The majority of responses fell into the "very satisfied" and "satisfied" categories.
Answers were more across the board, including "dissatisfied" and "very dissatisfied" marks for the cost of living in Hamilton and the public schools — particularly the administration.
Town Manager Michael Lombardo said he was "pleasantly surprised" with the generally positive results.
"Overall, the vast majority of people are pleased with town government and services, and that's reassuring," he said. "In doing these types of surveys before, I have not seen these types of results, and that's encouraging."
The Board of Selectmen has begun to look over the survey results, which were released this week. Lombardo said he and selectmen will discuss the results over the next six months, using the data as a "baseline" on what to improve.
Survey data could also influence budgeting decisions, Lombardo said.
On the survey, residents were asked if they would support a reduction in funding for town departments. Public works, schools, public safety and town workforce/employees topped the list, in that order.
This winter, postcards were sent to 446 Hamilton residents, asking them to go online and take a satisfaction survey organized by the New England States Performance Measurement Project.
The 34 percent response rate — 151 participants — was very good, Lombardo said. Hamilton has roughly 8,500 residents and 2,800 households.
The town paid $1,500 to have the survey developed, administered and results aggregated.
Lombardo, who was hired just over one year ago as the town switched to a town manager form of government, said this is the first satisfaction survey the town has done.
Lombardo suggested the survey to hear from the silent majority — residents who don't often come to selectmen meetings or Town Hall. He hopes to continue surveying residents periodically to compile trends in data.
"It's not often we reach out to the community. We wanted to hear from them in a more wholistic sense," Lombardo said. "It's a powerful tool. We can work with the Board of Selectmen and staff in those areas of how we might endeavor to do better."
Staff writer Bethany Bray can be reached at bbray@salemnews.com and on Twitter @SalemNewsBB.
BY THE NUMBERS
Overall quality of life in town: 53 percent very satisfied, 40 percent satisfied and 7 percent dissatisfied
Cost of living: 3 percent very satisfied, 31 percent satisfied, 41 percent dissatisfied and 25 percent very dissatisfied
Value of services received for tax dollars: 10 percent very satisfied, 40 percent satisfied, 35 percent dissatisfied and 14 percent very dissatisfied
Leadership of elected officials: 11 percent very satisfied, 47 percent satisfied, 25 percent dissatisfied and 18 percent very dissatisfied
Leadership of appointed officials: 13 percent very satisfied, 58 percent satisfied, 22 percent dissatisfied and 8 percent very dissatisfied
The full survey results are posted at hamiltonma.gov under the "links of special interest" banner.
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