Every year the district council canvasses the views of residents to measure its performance and, for the past decade, more than 80% of respondents have pronounced themselves "highly satisfied".
Dunedin-based company Advanced Business Research carries out the Residents Satisfaction and Opinion Survey and business owner Sue Hoseit outlined the 2009 results at this week's council meeting.
The sample of 729 residents gave a sampling error of 3.5% with 95% confidence levels.
"I'm sure you can be proud of the results with overall satisfaction levels above more than 80%. That's higher than most councils and it has been at that level or higher for the past 10 years. It paints us as a pretty good organisation," mayor Malcolm Macpherson said.
Surveys were sent to 3200 randomly-selected residents.
They were asked their views on council services and facilities, the safety of communities, the council's branding, website, contact with council staff and elected members, and whether they were satisfied with the council's overall performance.
Most areas rated highly, with the exception of water quality.
Residents in most wards highlighted water quality as an issue and it topped the list of 38 priorities for the coming year.
"Too much lime in the water was a frequent comment, and why can't it be fixed," Ms Hoseit said.
Cr Tony Lepper said he was not worried by the statistics, but he was by some of the comments made by respondents.
Cr Neil Gillespie said the next step - what the council did with the results - was important.
Contracts and assets manager Murray Washington said the annual plan process was one way to address some of the issues.
