Title
2026 Community Survey Agreement with Polco
History
High performing organizations regularly evaluate their performance. Community surveys are an important tool to understand public sentiment on Village services and policies. The Village has a long history of conducting community surveys, beginning in 2012. Surveys have typically occurred every two to three years. The last community survey was successfully conducted by Polco in 2023.
Staff propose to once again engage Polco to perform a similar survey in 2026. Polco has experience in all aspects of community engagement. Their seasoned survey experts will design, manage and provide top quality survey research and consulting services.
The Polco Engage + Custom Assessment package provides full access to Polco's online civic engagement platform for the duration of the subscription. The primary task is development of one custom five-page community survey (custom assessment). Mailed outreach will be conducted to 5,000 randomly selected households. To encourage maximum resident participation, Polco will mail a postcard invitation and then a full paper survey packet with a postage-paid return envelope. Participants will have the option to mail the completed survey or fill the survey out online. Text outreach will also be performed for households with available cell data. The proposal includes three language translations (Spanish, Polish and Arabic) for survey invitations, offering in-language instructions directing respondents to complete the survey on line. The Spanish translation of the full custom survey is included at no cost and will be published online. Polco will ensure the survey results accurately reflect Orland Park demographics.
A separate Open Participation Survey containing the same questions will also be available to all residents online. Advertising for the Open Participation Survey will be handled by the Village as we did in 2023. If approved, the total project timeline is approximately 18 weeks.
Lastly, the proposal also provides 24-month access to the Polco Engage platform, which will enable the Village to conduct additional representative surveys.
Financial Impact
The total cost for the proposed services is $38,450.
Recommended Action/Motion
I move to approve the Polco proposal for $38,450 and authorize the Village Manager to execute all related documents subject to Village Attorney review.