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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOshkoshCitizenSurveyFinalReport2010 1 City of Oshkosh Citizen Survey 2010 Introduction A survey of citizens in Oshkosh was undertaken by the Public Policy Analysis class at the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh in cooperation with the City of Oshkosh in the Spring of 2010. This report will analyze the results of this survey and provide insight into the perspectives of the citizens on a variety of issues. The 2010 Oshkosh Citizen Survey included seven primary sections and multiple sub-sections, along with a question requesting general demographic data as well as an opportunity for comments from the respondents. Three hundred and thirty-eight (338) surveys were returned and the resulting data has been entered into a statistical analysis program. Depending upon the nature of the question, individuals were asked to respond to each question based on three following possible rating options: 1.) excellent, good, fair and poor 2.) very important, somewhat important, no opinion, somewhat unimportant, and very unimportant or 3.) strongly agree, somewhat agree, neither agree/disagree, somewhat disagree, strongly disagree and no opinion. The survey was sent to 1,500 properties chosen randomly from the 28,329 parcels provided from a data base by the City of Oshkosh. The 338 responses constitute a 22.5 percent response rate which is a little lower than the norm for citizen surveys but an increase from the 17 percent return in 2009. The relationship between sample size and precision of the survey instrument at a 95 percent confidence rate frequently used in surveys is shown below. Sample Size Margin of Error 100 10% 300 5.5% 400 5.0% 800 3.5% The 338 responses create a confidence level of approximately 5.3 percent. A level of 5 percent is considered acceptable for most survey results. 2 How Citizens of Oshkosh Feel About Their City – Section One The following is an analysis of section one “How the citizens of Oshkosh feel about their city” and its sub-sections. Graph 1 provides an overall view of how the citizens of Oshkosh feel about their city. The original responses of excellent and good were combined into a single category of “positive”, while fair and poor responses were combined to form a category of “negative”. This may equalize some of the potential variances resulting from personality differences and specific, temporary situations (a bad day at the office, winter weather, etc.). By displaying the results in this manner, it seems apparent that respondents generally feel “positive” about their city, except when asked about the city’s future, the city’s appearance, and the city as a retirement option. GRAPH 1 Positive vs. Negative Responses 3 The following table shows the responses in more detail. How Oshkosh Citizens Feel About Their City Results Excellent Good Fair Poor No Opinion As a place to live 49 207 67 5 10 Sense of community 15 161 123 24 15 Overall appearance of the city 4 123 161 40 10 Overall safety of residents 39 234 52 6 7 Your neighborhood as a place to live 98 173 52 9 7 As a place to raise children 63 175 64 7 29 As a place to retire 36 106 97 63 36 Community openness/acceptance of people 9 118 132 52 27 Overall quality of life 17 219 82 12 8 Environmentally Friendly 17 148 120 29 24 Direction moving for the future 10 81 155 70 22 How Oshkosh Citizens Feel About Their City Results Summary Positive Negative No opinion As a place to live 256 72 10 Sense of community 176 147 15 Overall appearance of the city 127 201 10 Overall safety of residents 273 58 7 Your neighborhood as a place to live 271 61 7 As a place to raise children 239 71 29 As a place to retire 142 160 36 Community openness/acceptance of people 127 184 27 Overall quality of life 236 94 8 Environmentally Friendly 165 149 24 Direction moving for the future 91 225 22 Positive = Excellent and Good Negative=Fair and Poor The following is an analysis of the above tables: How would you rate Oshkosh as a place to live? There were 321 valid responses with 17 answers indicating a non-answer to the question. Of the four rating options available with 4 being excellent, 3 good, 2 fair, and 1 poor, on average the respondents rated the City of Oshkosh a 2.91. This shows that Oshkosh averaged out at just below the ‘good’ rating but certainly above average. Overall, the cumulative percentage results show that nearly 78 percent of survey respondents thought Oshkosh was an excellent or good place to live. The 2.91 average 4 rating reveals a 38% change from the 2.14 average rating in the 2009 Oshkosh Survey. Analysis of cross-tabulations shows that about 84% of people who have lived in Oshkosh over 20 years gave a positive response to this question. In comparison, just under 67% of people who have lived in Oshkosh less than five years gave similar ratings. The percentage of excellent responses was nearly twice as high for people living in Oshkosh for 20 plus years over the other categories. This seems to show that long-time residents are pleased with their city. How would you rate the sense of community in Oshkosh? There were 316 valid responses to the sense of community rating with 22 non- answers. The average for sense of community was 2.5 placing it half way between good and fair. About 54% of the citizens thought that Oshkosh had a “positive” sense of community. Again, “positive” notes a combination of ‘excellent’ and ‘good’ responses. When cross tabulating the data of sense of community and homeowner status, it shows that only 55 percent of homeowners who responded have a “positive” sense of community, showing room for improvement. In addition, over 62% of women rated Oshkosh as having a ‘positive’ sense of community, while only 47% of men felt the same. How would you rate the overall appearance of the city? There were 321 valid responses for the appearance of the city rating with 17 non- answers. Using the original four rating options, about 49 % of the respondents rated the appearance of the city as “fair”, 37.7% chose good, 12 % chose poor and 1.2 % chose excellent. These numbers actually show a 2% increase of negative feeling towards the appearance of the city from the 2009 survey results. Cross tabulations between appearance of the city and income show that 60% of respondents earning less than $25,000 rated the city as good. Conversely, only 35% of respondents earning higher than $25,000 gave Oshkosh a rating of good. It is important to point out that consideration should be given to the time of year when this survey was administered. February tends to be a “dull” month in Wisconsin, in which there are often dirty snow banks lining the streets and a lack of leaves on the trees or flowers blooming. This may have had an impact on how respondents felt about the city’s appearance. 5 How would you rate the overall safety of the residents? There were 324 valid responses to this question and 14 indicating a non-answer. Of the four rating options, “good” had the highest response rate of 70 percent, which far out-weighed the responses of any other category. When converting the ratings into the “positive/negative” scale, 82 % of the respondents rated the safety of Oshkosh as “positive,” while 17 % rated it as “negative”. These numbers are almost identical to the 2009 survey results. Cross tabulations between safety and time lived in Oshkosh show that those living in Oshkosh for over six years feel far safer in the city. Over 70% of responses were in the good category compared to under 50% for those residents living in Oshkosh less than five years. Considering that Oshkosh is also a “college town,” which brings in a variety of activities, it would be helpful to examine any areas that may need attention for improvement by correlating the feelings of safety with the demographic information. This information would be beneficial for community service/program providers as they develop their action plans for meeting the needs of the community. How would you rate your neighborhood as a place to live? There were 324 valid responses to the neighborhood as a place to live question, with 14 non-answers. Using the four rating options, the average response to this question comes in at a 3.1. This indicates that residents feel Oshkosh is a good place to live, or slightly better. Fifty-two percent of respondents felt that Oshkosh was a good place to live while 30 percent felt that Oshkosh is an excellent place to live. Only 18 percent of respondents had negative feelings toward Oshkosh, or their neighborhood, as a place to live. This also shows a slight increase in positive responses over the 2009 Oshkosh survey. How would you rate Oshkosh as a place to raise children? There 303 valid responses and 35 non-answers to this question. A look at the following crosstab tells us that among men, 17.8% chose excellent, 56.6% chose good and 23.7% chose fair, and among women, 22.5 % chose excellent, 58.3% chose good, and 16.6% chose fair. 6 As_a_place_to_raise_children * MF Crosstabulation 27 34 61 17.8%22.5%20.1% 86 88 174 56.6%58.3%57.4% 36 25 61 23.7%16.6%20.1% 3 4 7 2.0%2.6%2.3% 152 151 303 100.0%100.0%100.0% Count % within MF Count % within MF Count % within MF Count % within MF Count % within MF Excellent Good Fair Poor As_a_place_to_ raise_children Total Male Female MF Total Thus, we conclude from the above crosstab, that no major gap existed regarding Oshkosh as a place to raise children. Married couple has a better feeling to raise their children in Oshkosh rather than single parents. Based on the crosstab results, we found that 61.2 % of married people think Oshkosh is a good place to raise children, while 51.4% of unmarried people and 45.5% of widowed people think the same. The difference of 9.8 points (61.2-51.4) and 15.7 points (61.2-45.5) respectively between married versus unmarried people and married versus widowed people is within the margin of error. Therefore, we cannot be certain that the difference actually exists. We recognize that the size of our sample is not big enough to draw any major conclusion as we go along this survey’s analysis. Therefore, we are using extreme caution in our analysis. One thing is clear is that Oshkosh is a good place to raise children. How would you rate Oshkosh as a place to retire? There were 295 valid responses and 43 non-answers to this question. Our team found a satisfactory score of 59.8 % among the respondents about Oshkosh as a place to retire. A record number of 210 from the valid answers are residents who are less than 65 years old. Our crosstab results indicate that 42.4% of these 210 people are in favor of choosing Oshkosh as place to retire. It is a good sign, and yet, there many frustrations from these residents about the City of Oshkosh. 7 Some of the frustrations, as highlighted in their comments include a lack of waterfront, a poor maintenance of the roads and streets, a high property taxes, a lack of business and shopping areas in the City, and poor storm water management. If nothing is done by the municipality government to address these issues and much more, this number could decrease considerably over the years. The crosstab tells us among people who have lived in Oshkosh for over 20 years, 40.2 % favored to retire in the City, and among people who have lived in Oshkosh for less than 5 years, only 17.2 % favored Oshkosh as their retirement town. Despite any margin of error between these numbers, we can conclude that the longer residents have lived in Oshkosh, the more positive things they are able to say about the City. Our analysis, due to a small size date, cannot be used to give an in-depth view about this situation. However, the new residents represent the future of the City. Oshkosh cannot afford to lose a great number of them. Therefore, something has to be done to make Oshkosh attractive to these residents, so that, even during their retirement, they can still consider Oshkosh as a second home. The City has to find new strategic ways to generate money in order to improve the quality of services provided to its citizens. For example, when the streets are repaired, it gives citizens a reason to consider Oshkosh as a place to retire because they notice government body listen to their complaints. How would you rate Oshkosh's community openness and acceptance to diversity? There were 306 valid responses and 32 non-answers to this question. About 43% of these valid responses grade Oshkosh as fair regarding community openness and acceptance to diversity. There are about 38 % of the respondents who rate it as "good". The difference of 4 points is within the margin of error. Our crosstab results below suggest that as residents are having children, their perception of Oshkosh as a City’s openness and acceptance to diversity decreases. For example, 81 residents without children think Oshkosh is open to diversity, as opposed to 16 residents with 1 child, 14 residents with 2 children, 11 residents with 3 children and 1 resident with 4 children. 8 Community_opennessacceptance_of_people * @#_of_children Crosstabulation 6 0 2 0 0 8 2.8%.0%6.9%.0%.0%2.6% 75 16 12 11 1 115 35.2%42.1%41.4%50.0%50.0%37.8% 93 16 11 8 1 129 43.7%42.1%37.9%36.4%50.0%42.4% 39 6 4 3 0 52 18.3%15.8%13.8%13.6%.0%17.1% 213 38 29 22 2 304 100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0% Count % within @#_of_children Count % within @#_of_children Count % within @#_of_children Count % within @#_of_children Count % within @#_of_children Excellent Good Fair Poor Community_ opennessacceptance_of_ people Total None 1 child 2 children 3 children 4 children @#_of_children Total How would you rate the overall quality of life in Oshkosh? There were 323 valid responses and 15 non-answers in the overall quality of life in Oshkosh. Our crosstab results suggest that, among male, 66.5% gave a positive rating on Oshkosh’s quality of life while 78.2% of female gave a positive rating. Again, the difference of 11 points lies within the margin of error, so we cannot conclude that the results reflect the reality in every sense. In addition, married people and homeowners favor the quality of life in the City of Oshkosh. However, residents who are parents do not have an overall positive rating about the quality of life in Oshkosh. This decreases as the number of children gradually increases. It is quite unusual to make such observation. As we mentioned in previous paragraphs, Oshkosh residents feel good about raising their children in the City. However, people who have children do not think of Oshkosh as the best City in terms of quality of life. We have come up with two assumptions to this situation. The respondents could have vaguely answered some questions without grasping its true meaning. The second assumption is that they residents who have children decide trade a good quality of life for a place that provides a good environment for their children. How would you rate Oshkosh as an environmental friendly city? There were 308 valid responses and 30 non-answers to this question. The respondents feel that Oshkosh is a good (146) to excellent (16) environmentally friendly city. We also noticed that a great number of residents who are under the age of 65 perceive Oshkosh as environmentally friendly. 9 Nowadays, traffic, gas prices and air pollution are all rising at a fast rate. However, the City of Oshkosh’s citizens are pleased to know the City is working to establish and promote a sustainability plan that will improve the environment. How would you rate the direction Oshkosh is moving for the future? There were 311 valid responses and 27 non-answers to this question. About 29% of these valid responses express a positive attitude towards Oshkosh’s plans for the future. Our analysis for a satisfaction score reveals the lowest rating in this question than all the other questions in section1. The City Oshkosh has to think about strategic ways to meet citizens’ expectations. People are very frustrated with poor services from water management system, the lack of sites of attraction in downtown, the high property taxes and the poor maintenance of roads and streets. This analysis does not aim to solve any issues. This does provide some statistical analysis that can be used to measure the performance of Oshkosh's government officials. GRAPHS 2-6 All Responses 10 Excellent Responses Good Responses 11 Fair Responses Poor Responses 12 City of Oshkosh Importance and Quality of Services Section Two and Three Importance of Services The data collected through the 2010 City of Oshkosh Citizen Survey will help provide some validity to 2009 citizen surveys and offer a deeper insight. There are clearly services the respondent citizens find important, and other services are that provide little or no importance to those responding. It is important to understand that the qualitative data provided through both this section and section three are only representative of the sample polled. Services that received a combined percent of greater than 70% in the “very important” response level include: Emergency and Medical Services (79.2% very important); Fire Protection and Prevention Services (82.6%); Police Services (76.5%); and Removal of Snow and Ice from City Streets (72.2%). These services similarly resemble the 2009 citizen survey results that included Emergency and Medical Services, Fire Protection and Prevention Services, Police Services and Removal of Snow and Ice from City Streets. Conversely, some services appear to be much less important to citizens who responded. Included in this list of services are Lake Shore Golf Course (35.6%), Pollock Aquatic Center (11.6%), and the Transit System (8.1%). The decision to rate these services low may include such factors as: (i) the timing of the survey (the golf course and aquatic center haven’t been used in nearly six (6) months); (ii) the respondents may not find the transit system important because it is not used by the respondents.; (iii) the age of average respondents may have also impacted the importance scales of these results. It is important to conduct further analysis into the quantitative results to determine appropriate action. A table summarizing the responses is shown on the following page. Additionally, a bar chart is provided to illustrate the services, from most to least important, as surveyed from respondent citizens. Additionally, a comparison chart for questions 2 and 3 is provided on a separate sheet. It is important to note on the large comparison table that Question 3 is shown before Question 2 responses. 13 Very Important Somewhat Important Somewhat Unimportant Very Unimportant Lake Shore Golf Course 9.5 28.5 26.4 35.6 Pollock Aquatic Center 20.7 49.7 18.0 11.6 Transit System 22.9 45.1 23.9 8.1 City Parking Facilities 24.5 51.6 19.0 4.9 Regulation and Zoning for Land Use 26.4 53.8 16.1 3.7 Building Permits & Inspections 27.4 52.8 15.6 4.2 Animal Control 29.1 47.6 18.6 4.7 Maintenance of City Owned Buildings 30.9 58.3 10.5 0.3 City Support for Neighborhood Organizations 32.3 43.4 18.2 6.1 Leaf & Brush Pick-up 32.3 49.4 14.9 3.4 Senior Services Center 33.2 49.1 13.5 4.2 Enforcement of Property Maintenance/ Nuisance Codes 34.1 50.0 12.3 3.6 Oshkosh Public Museum 36.1 44.5 15.5 3.9 Cable TV, Radio & Internet Services 36.9 42.9 15.1 5.1 Efforts to Improve the Quality of Housing 37.9 49.2 10.9 2.0 Public Health Programs 38.0 47.6 11.5 2.9 Bike & Pedestrian Trails 39.6 41.6 13.6 5.2 Economic Development Assistance to Business 40.0 45.2 10.8 4.0 Transportation Planning for Traffic 40.5 46.3 12.5 0.7 Maintenance/ Appearance of City Parks & Greenways 42.6 49.2 7.5 0.7 City's Sidewalk System 47.4 42.3 8.0 2.3 Response to Citizen Complaints and Requests 49.2 43.7 4.8 2.3 Street Lighting 50.8 40.6 7.0 1.6 Public Library Services 52.4 35.2 9.5 2.9 Refuse Collection and Recycling Services 59.7 35.3 3.8 1.2 Storm Drainage System 63.4 30.3 4.5 1.8 Street Paving, Maintenance Sweeping & Repair 68.2 29.3 1.3 1.2 Removal of Snow and Ice from City Streets 72.2 24.4 2.8 0.6 Police Services 76.5 18.8 3.4 1.3 Emergency Medical & Rescue Services 79.2 18.6 1.6 0.6 Fire Protection & Prevention Services 82.6 14.8 1.9 0.7 14 15 Quality of Services In addition to understanding the importance level of the core services in the City, it is also beneficial to understand the level of quality of services reported by those responding to this question in the survey. This information is important because citizens expect a level of quality for certain services and this information helps ensure their expectations are being met. From the survey results, the respondent citizens found most of the services to be provided at a level of quality that is fair or above. The services that received the highest excellent quality ratings include: Fire Protection and Prevention Services (58.1%); Emergency Medical and Rescue Services (43.1%); Police Protection (42.0%); and Public Library Services (39.6%). It is also important to recognize that most of the top rated quality services are the same as those reported in the 2009 citizen survey, with minor adjustments in the percentages. The Public Library Services dropped in from 50.2% in 2009 to 39.6% in the excellent category but remains at 90.8% for good/excellent. The excellence drop is one of the most substantial drops from 2009 to 2010. The lowest poor rated quality services include: Street Paving, Maintenance Sweeping & Repair (35.8% poor quality); Storm Drainage System (29.4%); Transportation Plans for Traffic (18.8%); Bike and Pedestrian Trails (18.3%), Economic Development Assistance to Businesses (17.9%) and Building Permits and Inspections (17.3%). It is important to note that the view of quality for Snow Removal has increased from a poor quality rating in 2009 of 23.5% to 15.3% poor and an excellent quality rating of 16.3% in 2010. The survey may have been impacted based on the large number of planned street and sewer construction projects. Additionally, the survey was dispersed at a time when citizens are just beginning to revisit the bike and pedestrian trails that are located in Oshkosh. 16 Excellent Quality Good Quality Fair Quality Poor Quality Storm Drainage System 2.8 22.5 45.3 29.4 Street Paving, Maintenance Sweeping & Repair 2.9 25.6 35.7 35.8 City Support for Neighborhood Organizations 4.3 41.1 45.0 9.6 Transportation Planning for Traffic 4.5 38.8 37.9 18.8 Efforts to Improve the Quality of Housing 4.7 31.9 46.5 16.9 Building Permits & Inspections 5.0 41.7 36.0 17.3 City Parking Facilities 5.2 45.7 41.6 7.5 Enforcement of Property Maintenance/ Nuisance Codes 5.5 36.1 43.5 14.9 Economic Development Assistance to Business 5.9 38.1 38.1 17.9 Bike & Pedestrian Trails 6.3 37.5 37.9 18.3 City's Sidewalk System 6.5 46.8 34.1 12.6 Regulation and Zoning for Land Use 6.7 41.5 40.9 10.9 Response to Citizen Complaints and Requests 8.7 35.9 41.6 13.8 Street Lighting 8.8 50.6 34.1 6.5 Transit System 9.6 55.9 26.6 7.9 Maintenance of City Owned Buildings 10.0 55.0 32.3 2.7 Animal Control 10.5 59.4 26.4 3.7 Cable TV, Radio & Internet Services 11.2 46.2 37.1 5.5 Lake Shore Golf Course 13.7 59.4 24.6 2.3 Public Health Programs 14.8 60.3 22.0 2.9 Maintenance/ Appearance of City Parks & Greenways 15.3 60.1 22.7 1.9 Removal of Snow and Ice from City Streets 16.3 38.7 29.7 15.3 Leaf & Brush Pick-up 22.7 52.4 21.7 3.2 Senior Services Center 27.4 55.4 16.1 1.1 Oshkosh Public Museum 27.6 61.1 10.5 0.8 Pollock Aquatic Center 33.5 54.7 11.8 0 Refuse Collection and Recycling Services 37.5 50.5 10.7 1.3 Public Library Services 39.6 51.2 8.5 0.7 Police Services 42.0 48.7 8.3 1.0 Emergency Medical & Rescue Services 43.1 51.7 5.2 0 Fire Protection & Prevention Services 58.1 37.5 3.8 0.6 17 18 Analysis of Importance and Quality of Services Upon statistical analysis of the importance and quality of services, it was found through the use of cross tab analysis that some of the services are rated very important and excellent quality. These services include the core protection services mainly; Fire Protection and Prevention Services, Police Services and Emergency Medical and Rescue Services. It is also important to understand that some services viewed as important lacked the quality that citizens are looking for from their municipal government. Citizens found a lack of quality in services that have a level of importance to them. Community development items such as Economic Development, Street Paving, Maintenance, Seeping & Repair and Storm Drainage had high or moderately high importance to respondents, but found they lacked the desired quality provided by the municipality. An additional community development item that had high importance levels with low quality levels includes Transportation Planning for Traffic. City Sidewalk Systems also showed a low level of quality responses when compared to the high importance placed on them by respondents. Snow Maintenance and Ice Removal proved to be very important, just over 72% found it very importance. Conversely, only 16% found that they were provided a high quality service. Additionally, maintenance also showed a relatively high importance level and a noticeably low quality rating. The topic of maintenance, includes Maintenance of City Owned Buildings, Maintenance/ Appearance of Parks and Green Ways, as well as Enforcement of Property Maintenance and Nuisance Codes. The last maintenance item had a relatively high disproportion of importance to quality when compared to the other maintenance levels. Based on this, it appears that citizens who responded find community maintenance and appearance important to them. Additionally, they appear to believe that they are not being provided as high a quality service as they expect based on the factors they used to evaluate the services. Bike and Pedestrian Trails also had a high importance level with a relatively low quality rating. This is not surprising given the recent citizen interest in further developing bike and pedestrian trails in the community. This should serve as a flag to council 19 members and community officials that developing bike trails, and other recreational trails, are important to the community. This is reassuring, and tends to re-enforce a desire for residents that want to make Oshkosh more appealing to visitors and new residents. The last item that had a strong disproportion of importance to quality ratings was Citizen Complaints. Nearly 50% found them to be very important, but only 9% found that they were provided a high quality service. It is important to note that items that didn’t receive strongly disproportionate reviews are essential services – such as Medical Services, Police Services and Fire Protection Services. Additionally, non-essential services, which appear to be less utilized at the time of the survey seem to have a more balanced response comparison between importance and quality. These include Lake Shore Golf Course and Pollock Aquatic Center. Additionally, it appeared that the Library was well balanced between importance and quality. 20 21 Budgeting Priorities – Section Four and Five Section four, as with last year’s survey, asked survey respondents to give dollar amounts to nine city service areas using a hypothetical $1 million dollar budget surplus. The nine service areas listed were community services, economic development, refuse and recycling, finance and administration, police protection, fire, parks, storm water, and road maintenance. Road maintenance ranked number one, followed by storm water, economic development, and police protection. Ranking last was finance and administration. Of the nine categories, only four received any survey responses allotting the full one million: community services, economic development, storm water, and road maintenance. The rankings are reflective of how priorities should be set in the eyes of the residents of Oshkosh. The mean value of responses for increasing the road maintenance budget was $307,500. In contrast, the second highest mean value was for storm water improvements, with an average increase of $170,940. This is especially telling when looking at the responses for the question asking residents how much value they are currently getting out of city services. The response for value of street paving, maintenance and repair was overwhelmingly negative, with 50.8% responding that it is currently a poor value and 33.1% felt it was fair. Only 16.1% felt the service is currently a good or excellent value. Similarly, maintenance of storm drainage systems ranked second in number of respondents reporting it being a poor value, with 38.3% of respondents rating the storm drainage system a poor value. When looking at this year’s survey compared to last year’s the rankings stay fairly similar, with the notable exclusion of storm water in last year’s survey. In both this survey and last year’s, road maintenance received the highest average allocation while finance and administration received the smallest allocation in both surveys. With the inclusion of storm water in this year’s survey, economic development and police protection both moved down one notch, from second and third to third and fourth. Similarly, when given a situation in which the City of Oshkosh’s budget must be trimmed by $1 million, the rankings remain fairly similar. No department was raised or lowered more than two spots in the rankings. Additionally, the largest dollar amount change was in finance and administration, which saw its department budget reduced in 2009 by 22 $200,290 and in this survey by $264,770. Also similar to last year’s survey the basic protective (i.e. fire and police) services fared very well in regards to not receiving large budget cuts. Road maintenance and storm water did not receive a large budget cut either considering that both of these areas ranked low in perceived value and very high in section four of the survey. SURVEY DATA – SECTIONS FOUR AND FIVE 2009 Rank 2009 Mean* 2010 Rank 2010 Mean* # 4 - Extra $1 million Road Maintenance 1 259.53 1 307.5 Storm Water N/A N/A 2 170.94 Economic Development 2 165.11 3 119.23 Police Protection 3 137.91 4 109.37 Community Services 5 83.53 5 88.86 Fire Suppression/ Prevention 4 112.608 6 80.7 Parks 7 81.36 7 66.94 Refuse and Recycling 6 81.77 8 39.63 Finance and Administration 8 17.15 9 17.15 # 5 - Reduce $1 million Finance and Administration 1 200.29 1 264.77 Economic Development 4 166.59 2 156.74 Community Services 3 146.85 3 129.85 Parks 2 169.05 4 113.42 Refuse and Recycling 5 113.99 5 95.68 Storm Water N/A N/A 6 67.4 Police Protection 8 59.69 7 62.12 Road Maintenance 6 71.35 8 58.77 Fire Suppression/ Prevention 7 70.14 9 51.25 *In thousands Another interesting way to look at the responses from the hypothetical addition and subtraction of the $1 million is to combine the two numbers so that they reflect on citizen opinion on a budget with neither a shortfall nor surplus. This can be very telling of the priorities of the respondents. To make this statistically valid, only the surveys in which the respondent completed both sections four and five (259 responses) were used. 23 Of the nine categories listed in this section, only four received a net positive allocation in 2010: road maintenance, storm water, police protection, and fire suppression. Just like the conclusion from last year’s study authors, it seems to be the case once again that basic services such as infrastructure and police and fire protection are what citizens of a community feel most strongly should be provided. It is interesting however, that refuse and recycling saw the second largest budget decrease despite being one of the essential services of a municipal government. SECTION 4 AND 5 – NET CHANGE 2010 Add* 2010 Subtract* Difference* Road Maintenance 307.21 58.5 248.72 Storm Water 170.5 71.1 99.39 Police Protection 109.48 60.97 48.51 Fire Suppression/Prevention 81.45 51.6 28.85 Economic Development 120.23 157.31 -37.07 Community Services 89.49 126.8 -37.31 Parks 68.42 114.36 -45.93 Refuse and Recycling 36.57 93.3 -56.73 Finance and Administration 16.63 266.05 -249.42 *In thousands 24 Funding of City Services – Section Six Survey question #6 covers the satisfaction levels and what possible changes could be made to the City of Oshkosh’s current tax process. The question is broken down into five sections in which the citizens are asked to rate their level of satisfaction for the current tax system, and to rate their level of agreement towards potential ways in which the city could possible change this system for the better. The provided answer options for each question ranged from “strongly agree, somewhat agree, neither agree/ disagree, somewhat disagree, to strongly disagree.” Each answered survey is intended to give city officials an idea of what the city can do to better satisfy its residents. Upon analysis, the survey answers were then compared according to the demographics of each survey taker. These demographics included age, sex, race, education level, occupation, income level, area of Oshkosh in which the citizen resides, years as a citizen, marriage status, and whether or not a child/ children resides in the household. The city intended to use this demographic information to attempt to understand why certain citizens may have responded in a particular way to a particular tax question (i.e. were people with children less likely to be in agreement to lower taxes by raising fees, because these people with children are more likely to use services which require fees: swimming pools or parks, or beaches.) Question #6 was broken down and measured on the above mentioned scale, as followed: “I am satisfied with my taxes” 40.9% of respondents either somewhat or strongly agreed with the statement, “I am satisfied with my taxes. 33.2% of respondents either somewhat or strongly disagreed. 25.9% of respondents neither agreed nor disagreed. Respondents were asked which part of the city they lived in: North of the Fox River, South of the Fox River and East of US 41, South of the Fox River and West of US 41. Geographically, the responses were very similar throughout the city, regardless of the area in which a citizen lived. The largest three income brackets to respond to the survey were the $35-49,999 bracket with 43 respondents, the $75-99,999 bracket with 55 respondents, and the $50- 25 74,000 bracket with 70 respondents. Within these brackets the responses are very similar to the overall results of the survey. Strongly Agree 6% Somewhat Agree 37.5% Neither Agree/ Disagree 25.6% Somewhat disagree 17.9% Strongly disagree 13.1% In general the results of this years question were very similar to 2009 with only single digit plus or minus changes over the year. “Cut taxes through efficiency” 75.3% of respondents either somewhat or strongly agreed that the city should focus on being more efficient. There was only a slight change in the numbers this year, as opposed to 2009, however, there is still a strong indication that the citizens of Oshkosh feel the city should focus on reducing taxes by becoming more efficient. “Cutting taxes through grants” This option, as shown with last years survey, proved to be a popular option, with overall positive responses of 64.2% strongly or somewhat agreeing with this proposed change to the tax system. 7.4% of the respondents showed no desire to acquire more grants to cut taxes, with a somewhat or strongly disagree response. Then again, 19.8% of responses were neither agree nor disagree and 4.4% of citizens did not respond at all. Although demographics were taken into account, there was no particular demographic that appeared to cause a person to choose a particular response. Citizens simply tended to choose either a positive response or to not feel particularly towards either response, whether male or female, owners vs. renters, or married, single, or widowed, etc: the strongest responses were either positive or neutral. “Cutting taxes by raising fees” The responses to this option were skewed slightly opposite to the prior option, with more citizens tending to feel more negatively towards this option. 29.6% of citizens responded with strong or somewhat agree, while 17.8% felt more neutral. The most significant of responses were in the somewhat to strongly disagree categories, with 43.4% 26 of citizens more against this type of change to the tax system. 4.1% of respondents did not answer this question. Again, taking into consideration the demographics analyzed for this study, results tended to be less positive, regardless of any demographic in particular. For example, married, single, or widowed citizens voiced their opinions in a similar manner, with all groups appearing to feel more negatively towards this option than positively. Married couples felt most negatively, with 48.8% somewhat to strongly disagreeing. Single citizens voted 46.5% in these categories, while widowed citizens felt the least negative with 33.3%. About 20% from each status chose to be neutral. And, citizens with or without children were analyzed on the topic of higher fees to lower taxes. The outcomes were relatively similar, with 31.78% and 34.3% strongly to somewhat agreeing, respectively, and 18.33% and 20.1% feeling neutral. 54% of citizens with children were either somewhat or strongly against this change, while 45.6% of childless citizens felt the same way. “I will support an increase in taxes if it would maintain or increase services I value” 2010 was the first appearance of this question. Values of “somewhat agree and strongly agree” were combined to form one category of positive responses. “Somewhat disagree and strongly disagree” were combined to form a category of negative responses. The “neither agree/ disagree” category was viewed as a neutral response. Demographics were analyzed and were found to be relatively consistent towards an approval rating averaging 48.4% for an increase in taxes. There was an average of 17.03 % neutral responses, and an average of a 34.57% against any increases. The only significant demographics to deviate from the above average were as follows. Unemployed persons (17 respondents) approved of an increase in taxes only 17.6%, were neutral 35.3%, and disagreed 47.1%. Similarly those who made over $150,000 a year (seven respondents) 26.7% favored an increase, 20% were neutral, and 53.3% were against. 27 An interesting note, in regard to educational level, the higher level, the more likely it appeared as though the respondent approved an increase. Five citizens, with an education level below high school, responded and all were against a tax increase. Those with high school degrees (124 respondents) agreed 45.1% of the time, while 12.1 were neutral, and 42.7% disagreed. 107 citizens held bachelor’s degrees and agreed 54.2% of the time, while 15.9% were neutral, and 29.9% disagreed. 51 citizens responded with a master’s degree or higher and agreed 56.9% of the time, while11.8% were neutral and 31.4% disagreed. 28 Dogs in Parks – Section Seven Allow leashed dogs in Oshkosh Parks? To help understand the position of citizens regarding the current discussion of leased pets in city parks, it was decided to ask the question on the 2010 Citizen Survey. Based on the results, it is equally divided between the populous of respondents. 39.1% of respondents believe the current policy should be maintained, 26.9% of respondents responded to allow dogs in some parks, and 34.1% believed leashed pets should be allowed in all Oshkosh parks. A pie chart is provided below to illustrate the results. 29 Comments - Section Eight In reviewing the written comments, the following major themes were noted  The condition of road maintenance, whether in reference to appearance, condition, or snow removal was viewed negatively.  The issue of leashed dogs in the parks with many citizens on both sides of the issue.  The issue of storm drainage was again a major topic, although Oshkosh was not flooded in 2010.  Citizens tended to be particularly concerned with Oshkosh acquiring and retaining more businesses and revamping the downtown area.  Many citizens commented on the necessity of some kind of attraction (a water park, for example) to bring in tourists and revenue for the city.  Citizens seemed particularly concerned with the presence of police, making the city appear as though it is a "police state," as some citizens referred to it.  The safety and appearance of neighborhoods was important.  Taxes and quality of services, or lack thereof, was again a major concern for many, with the general tendency of citizens feeling that taxes should be lowered.  A handful of comments referred to the good job that the city administration is doing.  There were many comments in opposition of roundabouts again.  There were a number of comments regarding city/union contracts and wages being too high.  There were a number of comments asking that snow removal on sidewalks be enforced along with other cosmetic' ordinances (especially around campus)  People seem very interested in having more/better bicycle paths.  There were a number of comments related to breaks being given to Oshkosh Corp and other big businesses. The rankings in section four and five were somewhat supported by the comments section of the survey. Overall, the comments were negative in nature. 30 Analysis of Survey Results to Demographics of City – Section Nine The following survey demographics were requested from the survey participants and compared to the census data from 2005-07 for the City of Oshkosh. The column showing population statistics Without Institutions was inserted to reflect the numbers of census responses that come from institutions such as the correctional institutions and the campus dormitories which were not included in the parcel base for this survey. Surveys Surveys Oshkosh Without Results % Census Institutions Gender Male 170 51.8% 51.6% Female 158 48.2% 48.4% Missing 10 Year Born 18 to 65 234 72.9% 88.1% 83.0% Over 65 87 27.1% 11.9% 17.0% Missing 17 Marital Status Married 222 67.9% 39.7% 45.5% Not Married 80 24.% 53.5% 47.0% Widowed 25 7.6% 6.8% 7.5% Missing 11 Time Lived in Oshkosh 5 years or less 33 10.0% 6 to 20 years 78 23.6% 20+ years 219 66.4% Missing 8 Rent or Own Own 315 96.3% 59.2% Rent 12 3.7% 40.8% Missing 11 Number of Children None 226 69.1% 72.2% 1 42 12.8% 27.8% 2 1833 10.1% 3 823 7.0% 4 or more 43 .9% Missing 11 Place of Residence North of Fox 153 47.1% 56.4% 50.8% South of Fox/East of 41 114 35.1% 31.6% 35.7% South of Fox/West of 41 58 17.8% 11.9% 13.5% Missing 13 Income Under $25,000 37 11.9% 28.9% $25,000-$75,000 155 50.0% 50.5% Over $75,000 118 38.1% 20.6% 31 Missing 28 Employment Status Employed 197 62.1% Student 1 .3% Unemployed 18 5.7% 5.5% Retired 101 31.9% Missing 21 Occupation Homemaker 7 3.2% Service Occupation 43 19.7% 23.5% Sales and Office 26 11.9% 26.7% Production, Trans, Material Moving 26 11.9% 18.5% Management, professional 102 46.8% 26.1% Farming, fishing, forestry 2 .9% 10.0% Construction 12 5.5% 5.0% Missing 120 Education Less than HS 6 1.9% 13.8% HS 139 43.8% 62.5% Bachelors 117 36.9% 16.7% MA or higher 55 17.4% 7.0% Missing 21 Race White 318 98.5% 91.6%* African-American 1 .3% 2.9%* Two or more races 4 1.2% 1.0%*  Gender – The sample replying to the survey is representative of the population in Oshkosh and similar to last year’s survey’s results.  Year Born – The response rate over 65 years of age was nearly three times the population in the city again this year. This may result in factors such as preference for senior centers and user fees over taxes.  Marital Status – The percentage of married respondents is higher than the census population data and higher than the previous year’s surveys. The high percent of married individuals may result in stronger views on child related services, public safety needs, and more vested interest in the community.  Years Lived in Oshkosh – The majority of respondents have lived in Oshkosh 20 plus years which results in respondents that are more vested interest and involvement in the community. 32  Home Ownership or Rental – The percentage of respondents who own homes is significantly higher compared to the census data while the percent of respondents who rent are significantly underrepresented in comparison with the census data. In addition, the percent of renter respondents is greatly lower than the percent represented in last year’s survey. This data may show that home owners tend to have more involvement and interest in the community.  Children Under 18 in Household – The response of those with and without children is reflective of the census data. There was a slight increase in percentages of households with one or more children in the household which may result in more support for child related services and safety.  Location in City – The percentage of survey respondents on both sides of the river seem to be equal and similar to last year’s results.  Household Income Level – The lowest income bracket is underrepresented in comparison with census data and decreased from last year’s survey. There was increase in the percentage of respondents who make over $75,000.  Employment Status – The survey results appears to be consistent with last year’s results and census data.  Profession – A high level of no responses is most likely the result of 37.6% of respondents being retired or unemployed. There appears to be a higher response rate from those in the management and professional areas again this year.  Level of Education – The percentage of respondents with secondary higher education is higher than the percentages represented in the census. Overall, our respondents are more highly educated than the census data represents.  Race- The response is reflective of the racial climate of Oshkosh. *Data was compared to the 2006-2008 census data. 33 Internet Surveys An opportunity for citizens who were not part of the randomly selected survey base to complete the citizen survey was provided on the City of Oshkosh web page site. Thirty-five (35) citizens participated in this opportunity. While the results of these surveys are not considered statistically significant for research considerations, they are informative and are included in the Appendix A for consideration. 34 Summary The citizen survey for the City of Oshkosh resulted in 338 responses from a randomly selected base of 1500 citizens. This 22.5 percent response rate, while considered slightly low for citizen surveys, is statistically significant even though it is slightly higher than the normally accepted margin of error rate of a 5.0%. The response rate of 338 is an increase from the 255 survey responses in 2009. The results of the survey described in the body of this report should aid the officials in the City of Oshkosh in helping to determine the future priorities and direction of the city. 35 Appendix A - Internet Surveys Question 1 - How Oshkosh Citizens Feel About Their City Results Excellent Good Fair Poor No Opinion As a place to live 5 20 10 0 0 Sense of community 4 11 14 6 0 Overall appearance of the city 1 9 16 9 0 Overall safety of residents 3 24 8 0 0 Your neighborhood as a place to live 10 15 7 3 0 As a place to raise children 6 17 9 1 2 As a place to retire 1 11 9 6 8 Community openness/acceptance of people 1 12 16 6 0 Overall quality of life 3 18 11 2 1 Environmentally friendly city 0 10 19 5 1 Direction moving for the future 2 12 15 5 1 Question 1 - How Oshkosh Citizens Feel About Their City Results Summary Positive Negative No opinion As a place to live 25 10 0 Sense of community 15 20 0 Overall appearance of the city 10 25 0 Overall safety of residents 27 8 0 Your neighborhood as a place to live 25 10 0 As a place to raise children 23 10 2 As a place to retire 12 15 8 Community openness/acceptance of people 13 22 0 Overall quality of life 21 13 1 Environmentally friendly city 10 24 1 Direction moving for the future 14 20 1 36 Question 3 - Importance of Services - Percentage Importance of Services Very Im Some Im No Opin Some Un Very Un Animal Control 14.3 45.7 2.9 28.6 8.6  Bike and Pedestrian Trails 42.9 45.7 2.9 5.7 2.9  Building Permits and Inspections 25.7 57.1 0 14.3 2.9  Cable TV, Radio, and Internet Services 28.6 42.9 0 28.6 0  City Parking Facilities 22.9 57.1 0 17.1 2.9  City Support for Neighborhood Organizations 20.0 60.0 2.9 14.3 2.9  City’s Sidewalk System 54.3 34.3 0 8.6 2.9  Economic Development Assistance to Businesses 45.7 34.3 5.7 14.3 0  Efforts to Improve the Quality of Housing 42.9 42.9 2.9 8.6 2.9  Emergency Medical and Rescue Services 88.6 8.6 0 2.9 0  Enforcement of Property Maintenance/Nuisance Codes 40.0 42.9 0 14.3 2.9  Fire Protection and Prevention Services 88.6 11.4 0 0 0  Lake Shore Golf Course 8.6 20.0 5.7 37.1 28.6  Leaf and Brush Pick up 34.3 48.6 2.9 11.4 2.9  Maintenance/Appearance of City Parks & Greenways 51.4 42.9 0 5.7 0  Maintenance of City-Owned Buildings 42.9 54.3 0 2.9 0  Oshkosh Public Museum 25.7 60.0 0 14.3 0  Police Services 85.7 11.4 0 2.9 0  Pollock Aquatic Center 11.4 45.7 2.9 28.6 11.4  Public Health Programs 42.9 45.7 2.9 5.7 2.9  Public Library Services 62.9 28.6 0 5.7 2.9  Refuse Collection and Recycling Services 82.9 14.3 2.9 0 0  Regulation and Zoning for Land Use 42.9 10.0 2.9 11.4 2.9  Removal of Snow and Ice From City Streets 91.4 8.6 0 0 0  Response to Citizen Complaints and Requests 62.9 34.3 0 2.9 0  Senior Services Center 11.4 68.6 8.6 11.4 0  Storm Drainage Systems 68.6 25.7 0 5.7 0  Street Lighting 48.6 40.0 0 11.4 0  Street Paving, Maintenance, Sweeping and Repair 74.3 25.7 0 0 0  Transit System 34.3 48.6 0 14.3 2.9  Transportation Planning For Traffic 42.9 48.6 0 5.7 2.9  Rating - Very Important - Somewhat Important - No Opinion - Somewhat Unimportant - Very Unimportant 37 Question 2 - Quality of Services - Percentage Quality of Services                                              Value Excellent Good Fair Poor Animal Control 3.4 62.1 20.7 13.8  Bike and Pedestrian Trails 6.1 15.2 51.5 27.3  Building Permits and Inspections 3.7 29.6 48.1 18.5  Cable TV, Radio, and Internet Services 18.2 45.5 27.3 9.1  City Parking Facilities 9.4 37.5 43.8 9.4  City Support for Neighborhood Organizations 7.7 42.3 34.6 15.4  City’s Sidewalk System 8.6 48.6 40.0 2.9  Economic Development Assistance to Businesses 0 35.7 39.3 25.0  Efforts to Improve the Quality of Housing 0 32.1 42.9 25.0  Emergency Medical and Rescue Services 48.3 41.4 10.3 0  Enforcement of Property Maintenance/Nuisance Codes 3.6 53.6 25.0 17.9  Fire Protection and Prevention Services 53.6 35.7 10.7 0  Lake Shore Golf Course 5.3 68.4 21.1 5.3  Leaf and Brush Pick up 11.8 67.6 20.6 0  Maintenance/Appearance of City Parks & Greenways 11.4 65.7 20.0 2.9  Maintenance of City-Owned Buildings 3.0 57.6 36.4 3.0  Oshkosh Public Museum 34.4 53.1 9.4 3.1  Police Services 30.3 48.5 15.2 6.1  Pollock Aquatic Center 37.0 48.1 14.8 0  Public Health Programs 8.7 60.9 30.4 0  Public Library Services 47.1 44.1 8.8 0  Refuse Collection and Recycling Services 36.4 51.5 12.1 0  Regulation and Zoning for Land Use 0 41.7 41.7 16.7  Removal of Snow and Ice From City Streets 11.4 22.9 42.9 22.9  Response to Citizen Complaints and Requests 3.6 32.1 42.9 21.4  Senior Services Center 27.3 54.5 13.6 4.5  Storm Drainage Systems 0 23.5 55.9 20.6  Street Lighting 2.9 58.8 32.4 5.9  Street Paving, Maintenance, Sweeping and Repair 2.9 14.3 40.0 42.9  Transit System 7.1 57.1 32.1 3.6  Transportation Planning For Traffic 0 22.6 51.6 25.8  38 Question 4 - Budgeting Priorities # Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation # 4 - Extra $1 million Community Services 30 0 500 112.80 110.197 Economic Development 30 0 556 131.57 158.862 Refuse and Recycling 30 0 200 36.73 47.227 Finance and Administration 30 0 100 19.66 30.733 Police Protection 30 0 250 58.58 69.285 Fire Suppression/ Prevention 30 0 250 50.62 67.159 Parks 30 0 250 82.20 72.505 Storm Water Maintenance 30 0 450 139.76 127.099 Road Maintenance 30 0 1000 373.40 291.738 Question 5 - Budgeting Priorities # Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation # 5 - Reduce $1 million Community Services 25 0 250 65.72 82.138 Economic Development 25 0 1000 200.12 234.928 Refuse and Recycling 25 0 1000 131.04 203.767 Finance and Administration 25 0 1000 209.32 195.807 Police Protection 25 0 1000 166.92 316.736 Fire Suppression/ Prevention 25 0 100 28.80 37.033 Parks 25 0 334 78.68 90.676 Storm Water Maintenance 25 0 500 89.38 133.728 Road Maintenance 25 0 125 33.60 43.601 39 Question 6 - Funding of City Services - Percentages Key: Strongly Agree Somewhat Agree Neither Agree/ Disagree Somewhat Disagree Strongly Disagree No Opinion I am satisfied with the current mix of taxes, aids, grants and fees 0 34.3 17.1 22.9 14.3 11.4 The City could reduce taxes and maintain current services by being more efficient. 34.3 31.4 20.0 2.9 5.7 5.7 The City should focus on reducing taxes by pursuing grants (many of which require local funding match) 31.4 40.0 22.9 0 5.7 0 The City should focus on reducing taxes by increasing service fees and charges. 0 14.3 40.0 25.7 20.0 0 I support an increase in taxes if it would maintain or increase the services I value 22.9 25.7 14.3 20.0 17.1 0 Question 7 – Allowing Dogs in Parks Allow Dogs in Parks 23 65.7% Allow in Some Parks 5 14.3% Retain Current Policy – No Dogs 7 20.0% 40 Question 9 - Analysis of Survey Results to Demographics of City Surveys Surveys Oshkosh Without Results % Census Institutions Gender Male 19 54.3 51.6% Female 16 45.7 48.4% Missing 0 0 0.0% Year Born 18 to 65 29 85.3 88.1% 83.0% Over 65 5 14.7 11.9% 17.0% Missing 1 Marital Status Married 22 62.9 39.7% 45.5% Not Married 13 37.1 53.5% 47.0% Widowed 0 6.8% 7.5% Missing 0 Time Lived in Oshkosh 5 or less 10 28.6 6 to 20 7 20.0 >20 18 51.4 Missing 0 Rent or Own Own 29 82.9 59.2% Rent 6 17.1 40.8% Missing 0 Number of Children None 30 85.7 72.2% 1 1 2.9 27.8% 2 3 8.6 3 1 2.9 4 or more 0 0 Missing 0 Place of Residence North of Fox 21 60.0 56.4% 50.8% South of Fox/East of 41 11 31.4 31.6% 35.7% South of Fox/West of 41 3 8.6 11.9% 13.5% Missing 0 Income <10K 2 5.7 7.8% 10 to 15K 1 2.9 7.3% 15 to 25K 4 11.4 13.8% 25 to 35K 3 8.6 13.2% 35 to 50K 5 14.3 15.7% 50 to 75K 11 31.4 21.6% 75 to 100K 6 17.1 11.8% 100 to 150K 1 2.9 6.8% 150 to 200K 1 2.9 1.2% >200K 1 2.9 0.8% Missing 0 100.0% Median HHI $ 42,298 Mean HHI $ 51,647 Employment Status Employed 21 60.0 Student 3 8.6 Unemployed 5 14.3 5.5% Retired 6 17.1 41 Missing 0 Occupation Homemaker 3 8.6 Service Occupation 6 17.1 23.5% Sales and Office 1 2.9 26.7% Production, Trans, Material Moving 2 5.7 18.5% Management, professional 10 28.6 26.1% Farming, fishing, forestry 0 0 10.0% Construction 1 2.9 5.0% Missing 12 34.3 Education Less than HS 1 2.9 13.8% HS 14 40.0 62.5% Bachelors 13 37.1 16.7% MA or higher 7 20.0 7.0% Missing 0