Chesterfield County staff presented findings from the 2025 citizen satisfaction survey at a board meeting, reporting overall stability across 105 measures and identifying transportation and infrastructure as the clearest areas for improvement.

Tamara Highsmith, a county performance staff member, said the survey is conducted every three years and that "3,000 randomly selected residents were invited to participate" and the results are "statistically significant within a 5% margin of error." She told the board the survey findings are used to inform budget deliberations and departmental planning.

The presenter said most measures stayed consistent compared with 2021: "Of the 105 measures tracked, the vast majority stayed consistent, with 19 areas significantly improving and only 9 showing decline." Improved areas noted by staff included transparency, openness of government, customer service by county employees and welcoming resident involvement. Staff also said the county maintained strengths in public safety and quality of life.

Board members focused questions on the nine measures that declined. Staff described those declines as concentrated in infrastructure, growth and development—the broader category that includes transportation and traffic flow—and said specific item-level details will be shared. A presenter cautioned that infrastructure projects can have long timelines between funding or approval and when residents feel a change on the road.

Board members pressed staff on the survey's sample and response details. One board member noted the slides showed a ±5% confidence interval but did not display the actual number of completed responses, saying, "we don't have on here how many actually responded," and asked for the 'n' so the board and public can better interpret small changes. County staff responded that the county met the vendor's validity threshold and committed to posting the full report, including breakdowns, on the county website.

Staff also described the county's approach to measurement: the county uses an outside vendor to collect and compile results and runs three related instruments (an internal survey, a business community survey and the broader citizen instrument) to allow comparable trend analysis. Staff noted the county recently received a "Voice of People Award for Transformation in Parks and Recreation," citing national improvement in that area as an example of how focused investment produced measurable gains.

Officials said they will spend additional time "dissecting" the data over the next months, and that when findings have operational or budget implications they will be communicated to the board and the public. The presentation closed with staff thanking residents for feedback and reiterating that the survey will be posted online for transparency and further review.

The county did not take a formal vote on the presentation. Board members requested that staff publish the full dataset and response counts to clarify subgroup sample sizes and enable more precise interpretation of the reported changes.