Thank you all for taking the time to fill out the budget survey sent out over the e-newsletter last week. I received over 80 responses and I hope to use more surveys in the future to solicit public opinion and feedback on important City issues.

Here is a quick summary of the survey results:

Regarding the branch libraries: 44.2% of respondents preferred closing the branch libraries to close the budget deficit, 10.5% preferred funding the libraries through a separate tax district, 2.3% preferred charging users a fee, 16.3% said to find something else to cut. Other ideas offered were to move the libraries to City-owned properties, slashing hours at the Main library, finding more volunteers and applying for foundation grants.

ECMC: 65.9% of respondents preferred cutting City funding to the ECMC, while 12.2% preferred maintaining the current level of funding. Other ideas included moving the media center to ETHS.

Ecology Center: 50.6% of respondents preferred keeping the Ecology Center open and cutting something else, while 23.5% preferred closing the center. Other ideas included renting out the space for events, applying for grants, higher fees for programs.

City’s handling of budget process so far: 33.8% rate the City’s performance as “OK”, 26% say “Disappointing”, 19.5% “Good”, 11.7% “Very Disappointing”, 9.1% “Excellent”.

City’s responsiveness to citizen input on budget cuts: 52.3% say the City has been “Kind of responsive”, 26.2% say “Not too responsive”, 16.9% say “Very responsive” and 4.6% said "Not responsive at all".