DEPARTMENT: Office of Performance and Analysis (OPA)
FILE TYPE: Consent Action
TITLE
title
Authorization To Execute Joint Powers Agreement For Multi-County Residential Opinion Survey Project
end
PURPOSE/ACTION REQUESTED
Authorize the Enterprise Finance and Information Services Director to execute a joint powers agreement (JPA) with Olmsted, St. Louis, and Washington Counties to implement a shared residential survey.
SUMMARY
For over two decades, the Dakota County Board of Commissioners has directed that a scientifically valid public opinion survey be conducted on a two to three-year cycle. The surveys gather objective information about residents' perceptions of quality of life, quality of services provided, and their satisfaction with county government.
Dakota County staff collaborated with staff in other counties for the eight residential surveys completed since 2004. These collaborative efforts lower costs and improve the utility of the survey by providing comparable data and information across organizations.
In 2025, Dakota, Olmsted, St. Louis, and Washington counties propose to survey residential households in order to assess residential opinions and the performance of county government. As in previous survey projects, the 2025 Residential Survey Project will be a partnership among the counties. Dakota County will be the fiscal agent for the survey project and will manage the contract with the survey consultant, Policy Confluence / National Research Center (NRC) of Middleton, Wisconsin (doing business as "Polco"). The NRC has been the survey consultant on the last several surveys and merged with Polco in 2019. Using the same survey consultant allows for more consistent data collection methods and the ability to compare survey results over time.
The JPA (Attachment) sets out the conditions and responsibilities for the survey project between the consultant and the counties. This JPA has been used for several previous survey projects. Costs will be determ...
Click here for full text