Kim Tolbert says she hears a familiar refrain at community events when asked how the public can provide opinions on prioritizing city services.
“We hear from residents who say, ‘Well, I’ve never filled out the survey, so how can my voice be heard,” said Tolbert.
Tolbert, who has been in her second whole week since the city council appointed her Dallas City Manager, said Wednesday that she will move to make the annual community survey available to online respondents for the first time.
The 2,100 responses represent perceptions of city services and recommend prioritizing services for a city with 1.3 million residents.
Representatives said survey methodology produces a statistically valid product with a margin of error of about 2%.
This week, the city council received its first briefing on the findings of the 2024 survey, which Tolbert said was used to shape the budget passed unanimously last fall.
Among the findings, Dallas residents listed homelessness, street infrastructure, and crime as the city’s top three problems.
The percentage of respondents who listed infrastructure as a problem increased from 55% to 60%, while crime decreased from 61% of respondents to 52%.
Homelessness remained steady, with 73% of respondents listing it as a problem, compared to 75% in the 2023 survey.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said the survey findings, in many ways, align with budget priorities presented by Tolbert and approved by the council.
“It’s always helpful to see some data that suggests we’re not far off the mark in terms of what we are prioritizing around here,” said Johnson.
Tolbert said city hall will still prioritize the statistically valid survey conducted by ETC Institute but welcomed the opportunity to receive additional data from city residents online to help shape city responses.
Explore the original article from NBC DFW, posted by David Goins on February 5th, 2025.