By Stacie N. Galang
Staff Writer
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SALEM — In tough financial times, residents would prefer the city restructure employee benefits and pensions rather than resort to laying workers off or raising trash fees, according to the city's second online survey results.
About 1,000 residents answered the questionnaire that asked about everything from overall satisfaction with the city to ways Salem should scrimp on costs or bring in more money. Fewer people, however, logged on this year.
Much like last year, nearly 70 percent of residents who took the survey said Salem is a great place to live and 91 percent would recommend it to others, the results said.
"It's an annual thing now," Mayor Kim Driscoll said of the survey. "It's really important for us to encourage people to participate and know we heed their advice and suggestions."
But in terms of ways the city should save or raise money, about 60 percent of respondents said they did not support raising trash fees while 37 percent strongly supported changes to employee benefits.
Since last year, the city has made headway overhauling benefits plans with close to 1,100 city workers agreeing to pay more for health care copays in exchange for raises.
Only the police and fire unions have held out. Driscoll has said the city would save $1 million this year if all the unions agreed to the changes.
Gone from this year's survey are questions about the raising of local sales taxes. Last year, 38 percent of people opposed the idea.
Nevertheless, the city increased taxes on restaurant bills to 7 percent and added 1 percent on hotel room taxes in April. Both tax increases took effect July 1. Added to this year's survey were questions about frequency of downtown visits and reasons for steering clear.
The scarcity and expense of parking as well as traffic were among the top reasons residents said they avoid the downtown.
This year, the questionnaire also polled residents about their use and satisfaction of its automated phone system known as the Connect-CTY notification system. About 44 percent said they were very familiar with the phone service that calls residents to alert them to things like snow parking bans.
Driscoll said she is pleased with the participation and with some of the results. She said that all responses to the open-ended questions are read at City Hall.
"All of the feedback is really helpful, especially if people took the time to fill it out," she said. "Thankfully, there were a lot of positive comments. People enjoy living in Salem and what the city has to offer, which is great."
Based on the results, she knows that public safety and recreation programs, for example, are high priorities for residents. Road and sidewalk repair has also been a top concern, which often comes down to dollars, Driscoll said. The city would try to find ways to stretch its resources and make improvements where possible, she added.
Full survey results can be found on the city's website at: www.salem.com.
