Ames residents continue to be highly satisfied with city services, with 98% rating services as either good or very good in 2025, according to an April survey of 1,350 residents and 1,000 Iowa State University students.

The Ames City Council received the report on the satisfaction survey during its meeting on Tuesday. The satisfaction result is a slight increase from 97% in 2024. The surveys were mailed to residents at random.

Residents on funding: Most residents want city spending to stay about the same for ongoing services. Fire protection had the strongest support for maintaining current funding (83%) while public art programs had the most mixed opinions (56% same funding, 26% more, 18% less).

Residents showed the strongest support for increased spending in four areas:

• Parks
• Ames Animal Shelter and animal control
• Recreational opportunities
• Analysis of Social Services Evaluation Team, or ASSET.

Over the past five years, at least 25% of residents have consistently said the city needs to spend more on human services.

Law enforcement was the only category where more people wanted decreased spending.

Since 2021, support for increased spending has grown the most for recreational opportunities (+19%), the animal shelter and animal control (+16%), and parks (+13%). Support has dropped the most for land use planning (-14%) and CyRide (-11%).

Comparing just 2024 to 2025, the biggest changes were:

• more fire protection spending (-8%)
• CyRide (-6%)
• art programs (+6%)
• Ames Public Library funding (+5%)

Capital improvement priorities: When asked about major construction projects, residents gave equal top priority to three areas (all averaged 3.3 on a 4-point priority scale):

• reconstructing existing streets
• improving traffic flow
• using sustainable solutions in projects

The lowest priorities were improving off-street bike facilities, making municipal buildings more energy efficient, and upgrading existing recreational facilities, all averaging 3.0.

City services: Fire and rescue satisfaction increased this year. Another five services stayed about level with 2024: parks and recreation, CyRide, drinking water, electric services and law enforcement. Three services dropped slightly by 0.1 points: public library services, sanitary sewer services and public nuisance enforcement.

Police: One-third of the comments about the police department expressed satisfaction. Residents noted that officers do a great job, serve as a valuable resource and provide professional service. Several comments praised positive interactions with officers, and a few mentioned the need for continued or increased funding. Many residents appreciated the department’s transparency and community outreach events, though some wished there were more officers.

Fire: Fire prevention activities received the highest satisfaction rating at 99% either very or somewhat satisfied. Of the 61 people who commented on the fire department, 48% said they had never needed to use fire services, and 59% had positive things to say, including praise for fast response times and good community events. Many residents who attended open houses and educational events reported that their children enjoyed shooting hoses and climbing on fire trucks.

Electric: Of residents who answered questions about electricity, 88% have their power provided by the city. Power outages fluctuate yearly based on weather conditions. This year 30% experienced a power outage, an 18% decrease from 2024. Power surges also decreased from 15% to 11%.

Water: Most residents who use city water reported rarely having problems. Among those who did experience problems, most reported issues only once or twice in the past year. Too little pressure and sediment or cloudiness had the highest number of complaints, while hard water had the most reports of frequent problems (seven or more times per year).

Streets: Residents rated street maintenance from 2.9 to 3.3 on the four-point scale. The least satisfaction was with snow plowing in neighborhoods (73% satisfied), while street sweeping in business areas received the most satisfaction (94%).

CyRide: Among weekly CyRide riders, 13% were non-students, representing a 9% decrease in non-student riders from last year. Over the past five years, more students have been riding the bus while fewer non-students have been using it.

Parks: This year’s survey added two new features: indoor and outdoor aquatics. When good and very good ratings were combined, satisfaction ranged from 69% for indoor aquatics to 99% for overall quality of parks. Average ratings ranged from 2.8 for indoor aquatics to 3.5 for both overall quality of parks and overall quality of trails.

Library: Residents rated 13 library features highly, with average scores ranging from 3.3 to 3.7. Many people indicated they don’t use certain features, with the library newsletter being the least used (75% don’t use it). The four highest-rated features, all averaging 3.7, were the library’s welcoming atmosphere, customer service, variety of available materials (books, movies, online resources), and ease of asking questions by phone or email.

The lowest-rated feature was waiting time for requests and holds, with an average score of 3.3.