Michigan Public Policy Survey Questions and Data Tables

Thinking about the next fiscal year, which action has your jurisdiction taken or is likely to take regarding privatizing or contracting out of services?

Thinking about the next fiscal year, which action has your jurisdiction taken or is likely to take regarding the number and/or scope of interlocal agreements or other service-sharing plans with other governments?

Thinking about the next fiscal year, which action has your jurisdiction taken or is likely to take regarding the jurisdiction's number of employees?

Thinking about the next fiscal year, which action has your jurisdiction taken or is likely to take regarding the amount of employee pay rates?

Has there been a decrease, an increase, or no change from the previous fiscal year in the cost of retired government employee health benefits for your jurisdiction?

Thinking about the next fiscal year, which action has your jurisdiction taken or is likely to take regarding employees' share of contributions to retirement funds?

Thinking about the next fiscal year, which action has your jurisdiction taken or is likely to take regarding retirees' share of premiums, deductibles and/or co-pays on health insurance?

Thinking about any important aspects of service provision (such as the range of different types of services offered, the amount and quality of those services, etc.), overall, how satisfied would you say you personally in your role as a local official are with your jurisdiction's current services?

Approximately what was your jurisdiction’s unreserved/unassigned general fund balance as a percentage of general fund expenditures at the end of its last fiscal year?

Thinking about your jurisdiction’s fiscal needs, overall, do you consider your jurisdiction’s unreserved/unassigned general fund balance to be too high, about right, or too low?

In your opinion, is your jurisdiction’s cash flow and its ability to pay bills in a timely manner a significant fiscal problem, somewhat of a problem, not much of a problem, or not a problem at all?

Thinking about the overall fiscal stress of your jurisdiction today and what you expect it to be down the road - including any future financial obligations it may have - on a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is the best: perfect fiscal health and 10 is the worst: fiscal crisis, how would you rate your jurisdiction's overall fiscal stress today?

Thinking about the overall fiscal stress of your jurisdiction today and what you expect it to be down the road - including any future financial obligations it may have - on a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is the best: perfect fiscal health and 10 is the worst: fiscal crisis, how would you rate your jurisdiction's overall fiscal stress as you expect it to be five years from now?

Looking back, how would you rate your jurisdiction’s fiscal health today compared to where it was before the Great Recession of 2008-09?

Some jurisdictions have started to prepare for the next economic recession, while others have not. As far as you know, has your jurisdiction taken any specific actions to prepare for the next economic recession?

Taking your best guess, when do you think the next economic recession is mostly likely to start?

How concerned are you, if at all, about the potential impact of the next recession on your jurisdiction's quality and/or amount of services provided?

How concerned are you, if at all, about the potential impact of the next recession on your jurisdiction's general government operations?

Whether or not your jurisdiction has taken any specific actions, in your opinion, how prepared today is your jurisdiction's government to deal with the next economic recession?

Has there been a decrease, an increase, or no change from the previous fiscal year in the cost of government employee pensions for your jurisdiction?

Thinking about business conditions in your community, do you think that during the next twelve months your community will have good times financially, or bad times financially?

Would you say that your unit of government is less able or better able to meet its financial needs in this fiscal year compared to the last fiscal year?

Has there been a decrease, an increase, or no change from the previous fiscal year in revenue from property taxes for your jurisdiction?

Has there been a decrease, an increase, or no change from the previous fiscal year in the amount of state aid to your jurisdiction?