Citizens Surveys
Well-designed and properly administered citizen surveys provide decision-makers with accurate, representative feedback on residents' perceptions and satisfaction with city services and policies. These surveys assess community performance and livability, evaluate whether policies align with public interests, and identify key concerns and priorities. Opinion Research Specialists has extensive experience conducting citizen surveys, including more than 75 projects for the City of Springfield, Missouri, the state’s third-largest municipality.
Tax Measure Surveys
Securing voter approval for revenue measures is always challenging for local governments. A successful tax measure survey must accurately assess voter sentiment under different scenarios and identify the key factors influencing support or opposition—insights that are crucial for designing effective public education campaigns, implementing targeted outreach efforts, and optimizing a measure’s chances of passage. Since 1991, Opinion Research Specialists has helped clients secure millions of dollars through voter-approved bonds, levies, taxes, and rate increases.
School Surveys
For nearly 35 years, educational institutions throughout Missouri have relied on Opinion Research Specialists to survey their teachers/staff, parents, voters, and community at large.
Our research for Springfield R-12, Missouri’s largest school district, has helped secure over $350 million in voter-approved investments. Likewise, our surveys played a key role in developing the Joplin School District’s most
recent five-year strategic plan (2022–2027). In 2021, we assisted the Mehlville School District in passing its first bond issue in 30 years by conducting surveys of teachers, staff, parents, and frequent voters. In 2023, our research helped the district pass an operating levy increase (Prop S).
For the past 17 years, Ozarks Technical Community College (OTC), Missouri's third-largest community college, has relied on us to conduct annual district-wide voter surveys and provide analysis to support strategic planning. In 2018, our surveys were instrumental in helping OTC secure voter approval to renew its tax levy for an additional 20 years.
Library Surveys
Opinion Research Specialists has designed and conducted surveys for libraries in Missouri, Texas, California, Colorado, and Florida. The data we collect from library users, non-users, and voters helps libraries address evolving community needs, improve programs and services, prioritize resource allocation, and guide strategic planning.
Our research for the Springeld-Greene County Library District was pivotal in securing voter approval for tax measures that funded the 82,000-square-foot Library Center and the 36,000 square-foot Library Station.
Utility Customer Surveys
For the past 25 years, Opinion Research Specialists has conducted annual customer satisfaction surveys for residential, commercial, and industrial customers of City Utilities of Springfield, the largest municipally owned utility in Missouri. These surveys measure and track various customer perceptions, including:
Employee Surveys
Employee surveys are a powerful diagnostic tool for early problem detection, monitoring core aspects of work life, and developing strategies to enhance job satisfaction and engagement—both key metrics of employee retention. Our survey approach and methodology have been featured in Public Personnel Management, State and Local Government Review, Journal of Public Policy and Administration, Current Municipal Problems, and Missouri Municipal Review. Since 2004, we have conducted ongoing employee surveys for City Utilities of Springfield, the largest municipally owned utility in Missouri.
Employee perceptions that we commonly measure and track include:
