Algonquin Village Board Reviews Community Survey Results

Press release from the Village of Algonquin:

The Algonquin Village Board recently reviewed the results from the 2020 Algonquin Community Survey at a meeting in January. This is the ninth year the survey has been administered, asking residents for their input on quality of life factors in Algonquin, as well as rating the quality and importance of municipal services.

Residents gave high praise to several categories including: Your neighborhood as a place to live (90.3% positive rating); Algonquin as a place to live (89.7% positive rating); and Cleanliness of Algonquin (84.7% positive rating).

The highest rated Village services include the following: 911 services; Recycling; Garbage collection; Responding to citizen calls; and Online payment options. Overall, since the Village began administering the annual Algonquin Community Survey in 2012, the quality of life and services provided to residents have remained stable.

“It’s encouraging to see that our residents’ feelings have not changed much, even with the significant changes staff have implemented to provide services to them during the pandemic,” said Acting Village President Debby Sosine. “This year’s survey has shown us how resilient our Village truly is.”

In 2020, the Village adopted a Financial Resiliency Plan to proactively address pandemic-related revenue declines while maintaining core services. Additionally, the Village leveraged technology to launch several new methods to provide service, including remote virtual inspections.

While several categories have remained stable when compared to ratings since the inception of the survey in 2012, other services saw some modest declines in 2020 including: Swimming pool facility, Special events, Recreation facilities, and Street maintenance.

“We did identify a service gap in our parks and recreation facilities this year based on the survey results,” said Sosine. “Fortunately, we are at the end of a year-long parks and recreation master planning process which will help guide us coming out of the pandemic to restore and improve these services and amenities.”

The Village Board is expected to review a draft plan of the Parks and Recreation Master Plan at a meeting in February. This plan will guide parks and recreation offerings over the next 10 years based on resident input.

The Algonquin Community Survey provides resident input that is important in setting spending priorities for the Village’s annual capital and operating budget. The fiscal year 2021-2022 budget, which is currently being developed, is proposed to feature additional resources allocated to street maintenance/improvement and economic development.

To view the 2020 Algonquin Community Survey Report and past results, please visit www.algonquin.org/survey.

This press release was produced by the Village of Algonquin. The views expressed here are the author’s own.