The citizen surveys Bedford County has conducted in the past two years reveal a startling “disconnect” between what residents value and are willing to pay for and where taxpayers’ money is actually going. We are spending nothing on what citizens have made clear ranks only second to education as a priority for the future – open space and natural resources protection. Bedford citizens have stated they want to spend 18.46 cents of every tax dollar to preserve Bedford’s rural character and its air and water quality. This is only 4.54 cents less than they want spent on education, which ranked first in the surveys. If you add what residents are willing to spend on parks and recreation, the total cents per tax dollar is 23.98 cents -- nearly a cent more than education. It gives us all something to ponder.
Stephen M. Stevick, District 5 Planning Commission, March 26, 2005
Bedford County Citizen Survey 2002
In September 2002 the Center for Survey Resources (CSR) at the University of Virginia conducted a telephone survey of 1,445 residents of Bedford County on behalf of the County’s Board of Supervisors and executive management. CSR used a random sample of directory-listed telephone numbers to contact residents.
To obtain a copy of the CSR survey, contact: Bedford County Department of Planning, 122 East Main Street, Suite G-03, Bedford, VA 24523, (540) 586-7616.
The purposes of the survey were to:
- Assess residents’ perception of quality of life in Bedford County;
- Rank goals for the Comprehensive Plan;
- Determine level of satisfaction with County services; and
- Assess residents’ experience with and attitudes toward County government.
The findings of this scientific survey were:
Residents very much like Bedford County as a place to live. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best possible place to live, and 1 being the worst, more than two-thirds of respondents (67%) rated the County’s quality of life an “8” or better.
In regard to goals of the Comprehensive Plan, respondents were asked to rate 21 possible goals as “very important,” “somewhat important,” and “not that important.”
| Goals of the Comprehensive Plan | ||
| Most important goal: | High quality public education | 88% |
| Second most important goal: | Protecting water quality | 87% |
| Ranking 6th and 8th as “very important” were: | Preserving farmland and forested land |
71.1% |
| Preserving natural resources and open space |
66.4% | |
Bedford County Citizen Survey 2004
County residents want their local government to do more to protect farmland and other open space…. Currently, the county spends no money on the protection of open space.
News and Advance, Lynchburg, VA, November 30, 2004. Click here for full article
and follow up editorial
As part of its Comprehensive Planning process, Bedford County held 19 public meetings in 2004 to determine what residents wanted to see in the future. At these meetings residents stated their likes and dislikes, their wants, needs and desires for Bedford County 25 years from now.
A Citizen Survey was distributed at these meetings; in addition, the survey was distributed through the county’s web site and could be obtained from the Bedford County Department of Planning; 496 residents completed the survey.
The findings of this survey, “…are similar to the results” of the CSR Survey conducted in 2002, according to Philip Thompson, Bedford County’s planning director.
Residents were asked how important numerous issues were to them (ranking from 1 [“not important”] to 5 [“very important”]) and how much of their tax dollar they were willing to spend on the issues. The results were:
| Rankings in level of importance Cents per tax dollar | ||
| #1 | Education | 23.00 cents |
| #2 | Emergency Services | 14.16 cents |
| #3 | Farmland/Open Space Protection | 10.46 cents |
| #4 | Natural Resources Protection | 8.00 cents |
| #5 | Economic Development | 7.63 cents |
| #6 | Parks and Recreation | 5.52 cents |
| #7 | Utilities | 5.47 cents |
| #8 | Solid Waste/Recycling | 4.72 cents |
| #9 | Transportation | 3.78 cents |
