Sparta asks residents, ‘How are we doing?'

SPARTA - Sparta recently reached out to its residents, hoping to determine their level of satisfaction with municipal services. Several months ago, Sparta mailed out 500 surveys to people who had dealings with the building department, asking them to rate their experience. “There were approximately 500 people who applied for building permits in 2005, and we wanted to measure the system in place,” said Town Manager Henry Underhill. “We wanted to know what they thought about their experience.” Although, according to township officials, the survey results revealed that the majority of people were satisfied with the service they received, there was enough negative feedback to raise concern among some members of the council. “There were a significant number of people who felt they were not treated in a positive manner .… To me, that sums it all up,” said Councilman Jerry Murphy. Of the 500 surveys mailed out, 76 responses were received. While that number represents only a 15.2 percent return, Underhill said the feedback was useful. “We’re going to try and make some conclusions based on what was returned,” said Underhill. “We did identify some areas that we could address.” According to the town manager, no particular incident within the building department prompted the solicitation for feedback from the department’s permit applicants, but Underhill said, “You always get a certain number of people that don’t like the process of dealing with local government.” According to township officials, because of its high volume of interaction with the public, the building department was the logical place to conduct a survey on customer satisfaction. “We do a lot of construction permits, so it was thought that that particular office would be a good place to start,” said Underhill. Sparta’s council members are hoping the surveys will equip them with feedback that will help identify any shortcomings in the municipality’s business procedures, so that recommendations can be made for improving services to better meet the needs of future customers. “Our thinking is that if this works out, we might do a similar thing in other departments as well, to get feedback,” said Underhill. There are currently two types of surveys available to Sparta residents who want to comment on their experience with municipal agencies - a general survey, which could be used to comment on anything from paying a traffic violation to applying for a septic permit, and a survey specifically geared toward dealings with the township’s building department. Blank survey forms can be found on Sparta’s Web site at www.spartanj.org, under Quick Survey. The form can be completed online and submitted electronically. Paper versions can be obtained from any of the township’s municipal offices. Respondents are not required to identify themselves, unless they wish to receive a response.