Residents pleased with Burlington’s services, but increasingly are reluctant to pay for them: survey

Burlington residents are happy with City services but increasingly don’t want to pay to maintain those same services.

Those are just two of the findings in the recently completed community survey conducted by the City of Burlington.

The survey shows  92 per cent of residents are satisfied with the services provided by the City, particularly people are pleased with the fire department, parks, sports fields, trails, recreational facilities, festivals and events.

When asked about issues City council should pay the most attention to, the most frequent responses mention road safety and traffic, the cost of housing, overdevelopment, public transportation and pedestrian infrastructure.

However, despite residents’ mostly positive perception of Burlington and their satisfaction with programs, just 57 percent of respondents said they support a tax increase to maintain the current level of services. The last time a community survey was conducted in 2021, 71 per cent indicated support for tax increases to maintain service levels.

The survey was conducted last fall over the phone and included 784 participants.