Update: Penny project priorities set with citizen input

On Nov. 7, 2017, Pinellas County voters will decide on the renewal of the Penny for Pinellas 1-percent sales tax. This survey provided an opportunity for citizens to weigh their top priorities for future Penny investments under consideration by the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners.

Your feedback helped inform the project priorities set by the Board for the Penny renewal as part of a broad public input process. To review County and City project priorities, see our interactive Future Projects Map. Among the top priorities identified by the County as well as the citizens who participated in this survey are Water Quality, Flood & Sewer Spill Prevention projects and Roads, Bridges and Trail projects, with additional suport for Community Vitality projects, Preserving Parks & Our Environment and Safe, Secure Community. See full survey results below. 

Learn more about the Penny at: www.pinellascounty.org/penny. 

Results Summary: 

The survey garnered 1,513 responses from citizens, who weighed their priorities across nine major categories identified for Penny funding. At an average of three minutes per survey, that adds up to approximately 75 hours of public input. The Penny survey included 557 registered participants whose responses were published while the survey was open, and another 956 who completed it anonymously.

The survey coincided with a series of three open houses held at locations across the county in March. It was open for 32 days through Sunday, April 16. 

A majority of survey respondents (67.3%) identified themselves as residents of one of Pinellas County’s 24 cities while unincorporated residents made up 29.5% with the remaining responses of “I don’t know” or “Not applicable” making up 3.2%.

Below is a screenshot of how participants weighed funding among nine major categories for future Penny funding:

NOTE: Percentages above do not add up to 100% because not all survey respondents allocated all 25 pennies in the prioritization exercise.

The following word cloud represents answers from those who chose “Other” in the allocation exercise based on the frequency of key words:

Respondents also had the opportunity to share input in an open comments section, which is represented in this word cloud:

Full results are available to view or download here.