City of Clovis is turning to social media for input on their budget

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The City of Clovis is taking a new approach when it comes to getting feedback on how they should prioritize their budget for the next year.

Andy Haussler, who is the Community and Economic Development Director with the City of Clovis, said this is the first time they've turned to social media for something like this.

He explained they decided to offer a survey through Facebook to reach a larger group of people.

"What we found is that we have to come to where our citizens are and engage them in the meaningful way. Facebook and online is where people are active," he said.

So far over 3,400 people have taken the survey.

The survey has 11 questions asking residents to ranks the importance of everything from public safety to public transportation.

"We are doing the survey seeking input from all of our citizens on priorities for our budget for the 2018-2019 budget year," he said. "It will be used to provide council input where we should be putting funds we have some discretion over."

Haussler explained this method has been a great way to get feedback.

He mentioned the city does scientific sampling by mailing out the surveys but they typically less than 1,500 responses.

Haussler added they would never get 3,000 people in a building or city council meeting so this is just another tool to hear from the citizens. He noted they will also look at the comments section of the survey to address and write down any suggestions from citizens.

The survey will end about the first week of March.

If you are interested in taking the survey click here.