1. RESEARCH AND TRAINING SPECIALISTS, INC Concord, North Carolina 2008 CITIZEN SATISFACTION SURVEY Paul C. Friday, Ph.D. President www.RTSpecialists.com

2. Sample: Data Collected Fall, 2008  From a list of 16,948 registered voters 3,500 citizens were selected for the sample.  31% (n=985) returned - 308 were bad addresses  95% confidence that the results are within ±3% of voters true responses.  25% of business with renewed privilege licenses were selected. Of 300 surveys mailed, 80 were returned.  95% confidence that the results are within ±10%

3. Perceptions (Citizens) Scale of 1 to 10 ITEMMEAN  Indian Trail is a good place to raise children 8.1  Indian Trail is a safe place to live 7.8  Indian Trail is a good place to live 7.7  Indian Trail provides a good environment for businesses to succeed 5.9  The town is responsive to my needs 5.6

4. Perceptions of town management  MEAN  Town employees treat customers courteously 6.2  The hours of operations are adequate for me 5.8  Town leaders are taking I. T. in the right direction 5.5  Good decisions about development5.1  The Town spends my tax dollars wisely 5.1  Town Management shows strong leadership 5.0

5. Perceptions of Indian Trail %negative%neutral%positive Indian Trail is a good place to raise children 2.5%11.9%85.6% Indian Trail is a good place to live 2.7%12.8%84.5% Indian Trail is a safe place to live 2.1%14.7%82.9% Indian Trail provides a good environment for business 11.1%31.9%57.0% The town is responsive to my needs 11.0%32.9%56.1%

6. Perception of Town Management Perceptions of Town Management%negative%neutral%positiveBusiness Positive Town Management shows strong leadership15.0%16.0%78.9%30.6% Town employees treat customers courteously5.1%16.0%78.9%x The hours of operations of town departments are adequate 4.9%21.3%73.8%74.5% Town leaders are taking Indian Trail in the right direction 14.9%36.0%49.1%36.1% The Town spends my tax dollars wisely17.3%38.4%44.3%34.9% The Town is making good decisions about development 23.1%36.8%40.1%31.3%

7. Age/Length of Residence as Factors  Persons over 50 years of age are more positive toward the statement that “Indian Trail provides a good environment for business success (52%).” Most negative are persons 36-50 – 19.7%  Persons over 65 are more positive (57.3%) to the statement that the “Town is responsive to my needs;” Fewer persons 36-50 are positive (33.4%).  Respondents between the ages of 36 and 50 and those who have lived in the town for 10-15 years tend to be the most negative in responding to the majority of issues – especially development and the expenditure of tax dollars. (The combination represents 11.3% of the total sample)

8. Household Income “Indian Trail is a good environment for business”  under than $35,000 and $35-$65,000 - POSITIVE  over $65,000 - NEGATIVE “The town is responsive to my needs.”  under $35,000 and $35-$65,000 - POSITIVE  over $65,000 - NEGATIVE  “Town management shows strong leadership.”  Incomes $35,000-$65,000 -MOST POSITIVE

9. RECYCLING  87.5% recycle 77% recycle every collection day  The proportion decreases the longer one has lived in Indian Trail (p<.000)  The proportion increases with income (p<.03)

10. Evaluation of Departments There is a general level of satisfaction with police, fire, EMS and animal control.  93.5% satisfied with EMS service  91.8% are satisfied with fire protection  70.4% are satisfied with police protection  60.3% are satisfied with police visibility  The larger the resident’s income, the least likely they are to be satisfied with either police protection (p<.003) or police visibility (p<.003)

11. Important Issues  The most important issue of those on the survey for citizens is road improvements – 95.8%.  Business: 89.5%  Long-term planning for development ranks second – 92.7%  Lower taxes ranks third for citizens (90.2%) while it ranks first among businesses (91.2%).  The lowest proportion of citizens (69.1%) and businesses (68.5%) rate public transportation as important.

12. Rank order of new projects What definitely should be done. 98.7%Maintain and improve roads 90.0%Increase number of Sheriff Deputies 85.1%Purchase land for parks and greenways 80.1%Create a Parks/Recreation Department 77.8%Create/support a town police department 64.3%Build a new Town Hall

13. Choice of Policing Options Create town police department Increase # of deputies assigned to IT through Union County Sheriff Total Definitely DoDo NOT do No Opinion/Not sure Definitely Do Count35733106496 % of Total37.7%3.5%11.2%52.4% Do NOT do Count812538144 % of Total8.6%2.6%4.0%15.2% No Opinion/ Not sure Count1426158306 % of Total15.0%.6%16.7%32.3% Total Count58064302946 % of Total61.3%6.8%31.9%100.0%

14. New Town Hall  2/3 of the respondents with opinions support a new town hall  Over half living in town 15 or more years do not want to build a new town hall;  Nearly ¾ of those living in the town five to ten years, want to build the new town hall.

15. Taxes  2/3 are willing to pay some additional taxes 33.8% are not willing to pay any additional tax.  The average amount of additional tax is $35.  Half of the residents living in Indian Trail 15 years or more are unwilling to pay any additional tax  Those living here five years or less are more willing to pay additional tax.  Higher income residents are willing to pay more tax than lower income residents.

16. Participation in Town Festivities  Fourth of July Celebration51.1%  Christmas Parade/Tree Lighting38.8%  Family Fun Day30.8%  Indian Pow Wow21.5%  Arbor Day 4.7%

17. Reasons not participating  Either did not know about the event or the details of time and place.  Out of town The primary suggestion More advertizing of the events.  Many did not know about the Arbor Day Event and many others didn’t know what the Indian Pow Wow is.

18. Conclusion  Response rate EXCEPTIONAL!!!  Residents are relatively neutral in perceptions except Decisions on development Use of taxes  Ambivalent on more deputies or own police – but they want something done  Split on new projects – usually based on age/length of residence Newer/younger want land/parks, recreation department, town hall  Major point of agreement: Improve roads