Pasco County received higher marks this year than it did last year in numerous categories in the annual National Community Survey.
Even so, substantial improvements are needed, if the county wants to achieve its stated goal of being a premier county.
An average of 350 communities participate annually in the National Community Survey, which is a collaborative effort between National Research Center Inc., and the International City/County Management Association.
Pasco participated in the survey in 2009 and then again from 2012 through 2020.
Last year, the county had an 18% response rate, for a total of 1,600 respondents.
The validated survey results show how the county compares to other survey participants, in numerous categories. The rankings can be lower, similar or higher.
The county also does a separate online community survey, using the same questions — with the goal of collecting additional data to help inform county decisions. That survey received 2,007 responses in 2020.
Marc Bellas, the county’s performance management director, presented the survey results at the Pasco County Commission’s meeting on Jan. 12.
The really good news is that “everything, almost across the board, is up from last year. Overall quality of life in Pasco County is up 12% from last year; that’s wonderful,” Bellas said.
He added: “If our vision was to be Florida’s good county, we could stop right now, because we’re really doing good work.”
But, the county isn’t satisfied with that designation, Bellas said.
“The county wants to take what it has now that is good and take it to the next level, which is great. We need to be better than the average,” he said.
This year’s results show substantial gains, in numerous categories, which demonstrates the county’s efforts are having an effect, he said.
“We have been at work for quite some time in order to create a better community, and it’s showing up and the citizens are seeing that,” Bellas said.
Bellas also reminded commissioners there often is lag time between improvements the county has made and improved survey results.
He stepped through results in numerous categories.
Overall confidence in Pasco County government has improved by 8%, Bellas said.
In the area of governance, which he described as the county’s board’s report card, survey respondents gave higher marks for value of services for taxes paid (up 8%), government working in the best interest of the community (up 8%) and honesty (up 13%).
“In this survey, double-digit movement is unheard of. That is huge. That is huge,” Bellas said.
The county also saw a significant improvement in the category relating to fair treatment of residents. That jumped up by 13%.
County Commissioner Mike Moore weighed in on that finding.
“People recognize that this county does care about the residents and we do treat everyone on
equal footing,” Moore said.
Commission Chairman Ron Oakley said that result also reflects well on Pasco residents.
“They’re some of the greatest citizens that you could have,” Oakley said.
Survey results also show improvement in the area of customer service.
Overall, the county’s customer service received a positive rating of 75%, up 6% from the previous year.
Bellas said that reflects the board’s emphasis on customer service.
“I remember just a couple of years ago, you as a board said, ‘You guys got to really get into this customer service thing.’ We heard you. It’s happening, and the citizens have seen the result of that,” Bellas said.
He also noted a big jump in the category of information services, which experienced a 12% gain.
“These are big, big moves forward. Feel good about that,” Bellas said.
Despite the progress, Commissioner Kathryn Starkey wants to seek out ways to perform better.
“I’m curious,” Starkey said. “Who has higher (results) and what are they doing?
“I’d love to learn what they’re doing that maybe we could copy, and do better. I’m not good with being similar. I want to be higher,” Starkey said.
Bellas said the county plans to address that: “In our strategic plan revision, that is part of our strategy — to benchmark against those higher-performing organizations, to really see what it’s going to take to go from that good to great.”
The survey did identify some areas of concern, Bellas said, including few affordable housing options, public safety issues in West Pasco and the growth of multifamily housing outpacing infrastructure.
Overall, Bellas said, “we’ve got some work to do, but we’re moving in the right direction and that’s the exciting part.
“We’re better this year than last year; next year, we’ll be better than this year.”
Summary of Pasco County survey results
Overall Quality of Life
Excellent: 19%
Good: 55%
Fair: 20%
Poor: 6%
(Overall 74% positive rating, up 12% from 2019)
Overall confidence in government
Excellent: 12%
Good: 36%
Fair: 41%
Poor: 11%
(Overall positive rating: 48%, up 8%)
Economic health
Excellent: 11%
Good: 44%
Fair: 34%
Poor: 12%
(Overall positive rating: 55%, up 13% from 2019)
Mobility
Excellent: 8%
Good: 40%
Fair: 36%
Poor: 16%
(Overall positive rating: 48%, down 5% from 2019)
Overall design of residential and commercial areas
Excellent: 14%
Good: 38%
Fair: 31%
Poor: 17%
(Overall positive rating: 52%, up 8% from 2019)
Overall feeling of safety in Pasco County
Excellent: 16%
Good: 46%
Fair: 28%
Poor: 10%
(Overall positive rating, 62%, up 1% over 2019)
Overall quality of natural environment
Excellent: 21%
Good: 46%
Fair: 23%
Poor: 9%
(Overall positive rating, 68%, up 1% from 2019)
Source: Pasco County results from the 2020 National Community Survey
Did you know?
The Pasco County government:
- Has 2,900 employees
- Manages 57 lines of business
- Serves 550,000 customers
- Covers 740 square miles
Source: Marc Bellas, Pasco County performance management director
Published February 10, 2021
Crystal says
I live in East Pasco, Zephyrhills area close to Eiland Blvd. I do not feel safe in many areas of Zephyrhills. It’s a good thing that many businesses close early because safety is a question out here. I’m originally from S. Tampa and have lived in many parts of Tampa. I feel less safe here than I ever did there. As for improvement, Zephyrhills leaves a lot to be desired. The only thing I ever see out here for new construction is convenient stores and banks. I strongly dislike what all of Pasco County is doing with profiling students with the police force. Maybe they could actually patrol all areas and make them safer than spending too much time harassing kids and their families based on minor mistakes like grades or being special needs or even the misfortune of being a foster kid, profiling kids at schools unfairly and skirting on the edge of illegal being that they are personal records and shouldn’t be readily available without proper protocol, shame on the superintendent of Pasco county schools for allowing something this heinous. Let’s be better. Authoritarianism is a very bad thing. Let’s protect our kids, not make them feel less than, it makes them give up, not try to be better seems they just want to keep jails full. I’m guessing privatized jails/prisons also are part of this horrible equation. Wesley Chapel seems to be doing much better than Zephyrhills. Maybe Zephyrhills could copy some of what Wesley Chapel has done and improve many parts, most of Zephyrhills is quite ugly. Sadly. I wish I could pick up my house and move it to the Hillsborough County side. 😔