City staff presented the results of Springville’s 2025 citizen survey and outlined implications for budgeting and city services.

Troy Fitzgerald, who led the presentation, said the survey sampled 5,000 households and produced 4,821 valid responses, yielding a 21.17% response rate, a 95% confidence level and a margin of error of ±2.9%. He said the city worked with BYU sociology faculty (Dr. Michael Cope was named) to process the data and that staff will perform further cross-tabulation to examine neighborhood-level patterns.

Key findings Fitzgerald highlighted include a drop in average household size (from 3.57 in a previous survey to 3.07), continued high ratings for the art museum and the library, and growing concern about traffic congestion and code enforcement. Fitzgerald said roughly half the respondents reported that elected officials care about their views; 56% of respondents supported financial incentives to attract new retail, while concerns about city taxes increased over the 10-year trend. He also credited local broadband improvements (including Google Fiber) with higher ratings for internet access.

Councilmembers asked about subgroup breakdowns and whether some items—such as Main Street traffic and snow removal perceptions—reflected short-term conditions. Fitzgerald said staff will provide deeper neighborhood and demographic cross-tabulations in follow-up reports and noted the city will bring survey-derived priorities into upcoming budget discussions.

The presentation included a description of methodology (two mailings and two follow-up postcards during the survey window) and an experimental analysis of open-ended comments (more than 1,000 responses) that staff summarized using an AI tool to identify recurring themes such as “small-town feel,” walkability, and downtown revitalization.

Fitzgerald recommended staff and department directors consider the survey when prioritizing budget allocations and program adjustments; councilmembers requested department-level reaction and plan to review more detailed cross-tabs at the next meeting.