Key Findings

Overall Member Satisfaction

Overall membership satisfaction is very high. Only a handful of members are somewhat dissatisfied. Virtually no members said that they are very dissatisfied.

Those who know of and use MMA services are most satisfied, those who do not have interaction, such as planning board members, are more likely to say that they do not know.

Municipal Priorities

The most important priority for municipalities is the local tax burden followed by economic development, then roads.

• Local tax burden is an issue that spans all sizes of communities.

• Larger communities were much more likely to be interested in economic development than smaller communities (30% of municipalities 300-350 residents, 57% of 3500+).

• Smaller communities are more likely to cite roads as an important priority (48% municipalities of 500 or less, 39% of those 3500+).

Respondents are interested in a number of new MMA programs, especially group purchasing and regional meetings.

Advocacy Services

Some 82% of members are satisfied with this area of service.

• Some 49% are very satisfied and 33% are satisfied.

Members are most familiar with and use The Legislative Bulletin and articles in The Maine Townsman.

• Members are most likely to be familiar with and to use The Legislative Bulletin (83% familiar, 68% use) and articles in The Maine Townsman (86%, 71%).

• Members are somewhat less familiar or less likely to use communications with congressional delegation (57% familiar, 26% use) and state lobbying activities (70% familiar, 44% use).

All Advocacy services are seen by a slight majority of members as very important.

• Members rated all of the following as very important: Legislative Bulletin (52% very important), articles in The Maine Townsman (55%), communications with congressional delegation (52%) and state lobbying activities (52%).

Only a third of members know the process for deciding an MMA position on an issue or the name of their policy representative, yet 2 of 3 say they have contacted a legislator about an issue.

Over two thirds of members rate communications on policy issues positively.

• Some 24% rate communications on policy issues as excellent and 45% rate it as good.

Legal Services

Some 90% of members are very satisfied or satisfied with legal services.

• 67% of members are very satisfied, 23% are satisfied.

Members are familiar with and use most legal services.

• Members are very familiar with and use legal opinions (90% familiar, 82% use), legal manuals (86%, 79%), training (80%, 64%) and sample ordinances (78%, 63%).

• Members are less familiar and less likely to use MMA advocacy in the courts (43%, 16%).

A majority of members find all legal services to be very important.

• All legal services were seen as very important: legal opinions (79% very important), legal manuals (77%), training (65%), sample ordinances (66%) and advocacy in the courts (53%).

Personnel Services and Labor Relations

About half of members were satisfied and many were not familiar with Personnel Services and Labor Relations.

• Some 25% of members were very satisfied and 32% satisfied with this area of MMA.

• Some 39% of members did not know how to respond to this question.

Members were not very familiar with and did not use most services in this area.

• Members are generally familiar with personnel advisory assistance (63% familiar, 40% use).

• Members are less familiar and less likely to use executive recruitment (43% familiar, 16% use), labor relations assistance (41%, 12%), on-site training (37%, 16%) and entry- level employee testing (21%, 16%).

Less than half of members rate services in this area as very important.

• Services were rated as very important as follows: personnel advisory assistance (43% very important), executive recruitment (16%), labor relations assistance (41%), on-site training (21%) and entry-level employee testing (37%).

Communications and Educational Services

Some 92% of members said that MMA is effective at communicating about its programs.

• Some 60% said MMA is very effective and 32% said it is moderately effective.

Some 89% of members are satisfied with this area of service.

• Some 54% said that they are very satisfied and 35% said that they are moderately satisfied.

A majority of members are familiar with and use only some of the services in this area.

• Most members are familiar with workshops (90% familiar and 77% use) and the MMA convention (84% familiar, 54% use).

• Fewer members are familiar with and use on-site training (50%, 28%), leadership training (45%, 16%) and citizen education (35%, 14%).

A majority of members rate workshops as very important to their municipality.

• Some 75% of members rate workshops as very important.

• Other services are important to less than a majority of members: MMA convention (43% very important), use on-site training (45%), leadership training (33%) and citizen education (45%).

While the vast majority of members have Internet access either at home or at work (86%), most respondents still prefer to receive information in a traditional way– though the mail.

Larger municipalities over 3500 in population were more likely to have access in the office (73%) than small towns (54% for towns between 500 and 3500, and 33% for towns with less than 500 residents).

Key elected officials and board members are much less likely to have Internet access.

82% of members prefer to receive notices and information on programs by mail.

Some 91% of members are positive about MMA publications.

• Some 56% of members rated publications as excellent and 35% rate them as good.

Most members are very familiar with and use important MMA publications.

• More than two of three members are familiar with The Maine Townsman (94% familiar, 88% use), The Municipal Directory (89%, 77%), The Salary Survey (76%, 64%) and The Fiscal Survey (65% and 49%).

Most members see The Maine Townsman and The Municipal Directory as very important.

• The following publications were seen as very important to a majority of members: The Maine Townsman (81% very important), The Municipal Directory (68%). These publications were seen as very important to less than a majority of members: The Salary Survey (48%) and The Fiscal Survey (31%).

Less than a majority of members said that they attend the annual MMA convention, and about a third said attendance was very valuable.

• Some 45% of members attend the annual MMA convention.

• Some 37% of members find it very valuable and 47% find it moderately valuable.

Municipal Information Resource Center and MMA web site

Some 84% of members are satisfied with the Municipal Information Resource Center and MMA web site.

Some 48% are very satisfied and 35% are moderately satisfied.

A majority of members use and are familiar with the web site and inquiry services.

A majority of members are familiar with and use the MMA web site (69% familiar, 52% use) and inquiry services (76%, 67%).

Fewer members are familiar with and use other services such as the Resource Center (46%, 31%) and information on the web site (47%, 28%).

A majority of members see the web site and inquiry services as very important.

• MMA web site is seen as very important by 54% of members and inquiry services by 70%.

• The MMA Resource Center is seen as very important by 44% of members and information on the website by 41%.

Maine Municipal Employees Health Trust Services

Insurance services are more widely used by the largest communities and less widely used by the smaller ones.

• Different types of health insurance are used by 61-72% of communities with over 3500 residents, but only 5-9% of communities with less than 500 residents.

• Life insurance and income protection plans are used by 69% and 72% of communities with more than 3500 residents but only 5-9% of communities with fewer than 500 residents.

Over three in four members (79%) said that Health Trust Services met their needs.

• Some 7% said that services did not meet their needs and 14% did not know how to respond.

Only a portion of members said that they wanted additional benefit offerings – most notably a retirement plan, cited by 15% of members.

A majority of those who should be familiar with and use other major services were familiar with and used these programs.

Risk Management Services

• Most members in responsible positions were familiar with and used the property and casualty pool (88% familiar and 64% used), the workers compensation fund (85%, 68%), and the unemployment insurance fund (71%, 49%).

• Less than a majority of responsible members were familiar with or used on-site safety programs (64% familiar and 41% use) and specialized training (45%, 18%).

Almost three of four responsible members found the property and casualty fund and the workers compensation to be very important.

A majority of responding members found the property and casualty fund (73% very important), the workers compensation fund (74%) and the unemployment fund (53%) to be very important.

• Other programs were important but not very important, on-site safety (43% very important) and specialized training (35%).