Although the return rate for the 22nd Annual Resident Satisfaction Survey was lower than last year, more Ames residents ranked the quality of city service as “very good” compared with past years.

Despite a 30 percent return rate — down 7 percent from last year — half of the 156 residents who returned the survey gave the city the top rating of “very good.”

This is a 9 percent increase from last year’s survey and the highest ranking Ames has received in 11 years.

Steve Schainker, city manager, said budgetary restrictions allowed only 525 surveys to be sent out to randomly selected residents who use city utilities, including ISU students living off campus.

He said it would take three times as much money to get a higher response rate.

The return rate for people ages 18 to 24 was only 33 percent, something Susan Gwiasda, public relations officer for the city, said she would like to have more in line with the higher census results. In 2000, the return rate for this age group was 44 percent.

“I would hope next year we can up the response rate,” said Gwiasda. “A stronger return rate would give us a smaller margin of error.”

According to the survey analysis, the results have an 8 percent margin of error.

But, Gwiasda said, there is a trade-off between lowering the margin of error and determining if lowering the margin is worth the added expense.

Gwiasda said the City Council uses the survey as a tool to understand what the community wants.

The survey, which took about 15 to 20 minutes, allowed residents to discuss and rank the importance of capital improvements, utility services, transportation, community enrichment and where residents think money should be spent.

This survey allows residents to have an impact because the Ames City Council receives the survey before the city budget process begins.

Resident preference for municipal projects is not the only determinant for which projects move forward first, said Ames Mayor Ted Tedesco.

The size of a project determines how quickly it will take to get started, he said.