Community Survey Results: Missoula City Officials Hear Mixed News

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - At Wednesday’s Missoula City Council Committee of the Whole in the council chambers, Mayor Andrea Davis welcomed Chief Operations Officer Eric Hallstrom who introduced the online presentation by Polco with the results of the recent National Community Survey in Missoula.

Presenting the finding was Polco’s Brandon Barnett, who began with a brief description of the National Community Survey.

City Council Gets Results from National Community Survey

“The National Community Survey, or the NCS, is a standardized, five-page, comprehensive survey that allows municipalities to assess resident opinion about their community and local government,” began Barnett. “The NCS focuses on the livability of Missoula by categorizing survey questions into 10 main facets of community livability. These facets have been identified through extensive survey research to be the most impactful to residents’ quality of life. NCS includes items within each of these 10 facets to provide a full picture of how residents feel about their community.”

One of the key findings in the survey was the excellent recreation opportunities available to Missoula residents and visitors.

Missoula Parks and Rec Scores High Marks from Residents

“The first of our key findings was that Missoula Parks and Recreation opportunities are highly valued by residents with ratings higher than the national benchmark,” he said. “The highest ratings were for recreational opportunities and fitness opportunities, both exceeding the national benchmark. About eight in 10 residents expressed satisfaction with the quality of parks and recreational opportunities and the availability of paths and walking trails. Similar ratings to the national benchmark were also given to the recreation programs or classes, recreation centers or facilities and city parks.”

There were also some negative survey results, primarily about the high cost of living in Missoula.

“Less than one in 10 offered positive ratings for the cost of living in Missoula, while each of these ratings fell below the national average, the economic outlook has been declining across the nation in the past in 18 months, indicating that this is not necessarily an issue unique to Missoula alone,” he said.

Survey Has Negative Results on Cost of Living in Missoula

Looking for solutions to the cost of living challenges for Missoulians, Barnett shared some ideas presented by those who participated in the survey.

“A majority of residents, 84 percent support increasing the tax rate for luxury homes valued at more than $2.5 million,” he said. “77 percent support providing income tax credits to homeowners and renters based on income to alleviate the property tax burden. Also 72 percent support offering tax breaks to homeowners with properties at or below the median value, and 71 percent support allowing cities to include a tourism sales tax on local ballots, allocating proceeds to property tax relief.”

Watch the full presentation from the Missoula City Council Committee of the Whole here.