PRESENTER: Presenter
Jenna Vinson, Director of Communications & Community Engagement
Tobin McKearin, Chief Operating Officer of Polco.
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SUBJECT: Title
Presentation of the 2026 New Braunfels Community Survey results.
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DEPARTMENT: Communications
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COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: All
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The National Community Survey (NCS) is developed and provided by the National Research Center at Polco in partnership with the International City/County Managers Association (ICMA). The City of New Braunfels has conducted this survey six previous times - 2012, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2022, and 2024. Hundreds of communities in nearly every U.S. state conduct the NCS, which allows cities to not only compare their results to previous years to develop trends, but also benchmark results against communities from across the country. The wording and items are intentionally standardized to establish trend lines and allow for benchmarking
The survey was conducted in two parts - a random sample survey and an open participation survey. For the random sample survey, a sample of 4,500 addresses within the city limits was selected at random. This sample ensured community-wide representativeness and distributed representation from each council district. Data collection was conducted from January 19 through March 16. During this time, 426 responses were received for a margin of error of 4.8% (our goal is less than 5%). The open participation survey was made available to the public online from February 16 to March 16 and 1,278 responses were received.
STRATEGIC PLAN REFERENCE:
☐Economic Mobility ☐Enhanced Connectivity ☐Community Identity
☒Organizational Excellence ☒Community Well-Being ☐N/A
FISCAL IMPACT:
N/A