Highland City staff told the council that the city's annual resident survey drew 734 responses in 2025, down substantially from the previous year. Staff said the survey was available online and as a paper insert with utility bills; 60% of respondents used a digital method and 40% used paper.

Why it matters: The survey guides budget priorities and service decisions, including road funding, parks maintenance and potential library-tax options.

Aaron, a city staff member who presented the results, said the city mailed a paper insert to roughly 11,000 households and made the survey available online for the month of September. “The response count this year was down quite a bit from years prior…734 responses this year,” Aaron said.

Key findings the council discussed included:
- Response count and format: 734 total responses; ~60% digital, ~40% paper.
- Priorities: Road maintenance topped residents’ top-three requests; parks and trail maintenance and public safety also ranked highly.
- Library funding: Respondents were split on how to address a shortfall. The survey described four options (reduce services, use general funds, a property-tax increase of about $2/month per household to preserve current services, or a $5/month increase to expand the collection). Staff summarized the spread as roughly 48% favoring a property-tax increase proposal and 52% split among the other options.
- Usage: About 36% of respondents said they do not use the library; among non-users, a majority favored cutting services rather than raising taxes for the library.
- Building permitting: Satisfaction with building permitting was lower than other services (approximately mid-60s percent satisfied in the presentation). Staff and council discussed state-mandated review timeframes and increasingly stringent federal and code requirements as drivers of permitting complexity and some of the dissatisfaction.

Council members and staff noted other takeaways: park and trail usage remains high (many respondents reported frequent use), road-fee funding appears to correlate with improving road satisfaction, and demographic responses skewed older (concentration of respondents between roughly 45 and 75 years old).

Council members asked staff to make the raw open-ended comments available online. Council discussion also touched on whether the survey timing (September) affected response rates and on outreach to underrepresented areas of the city; staff said precinct/quadrant-level splits are available and can be provided.