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City of Oshkosh
Citizen Survey 2012
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 2012. This report will analyze the results of this survey and provide
insight into the perspectives of the citizens on a variety of issues. The 2012 Oshkosh
Citizen Survey included eleven primary sections and multiple sub-sections, along with a
question requesting general demographic data as well as an opportunity for comments
from the respondents. Two hundred and sixty-seven (267) 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 four
following possible rating options: 1.) excellent, good, fair and poor 2.) very important,
somewhat important, no opinion, somewhat unimportant, and very unimportant 3.)
strongly agree, somewhat agree, neither agree/disagree, somewhat disagree, strongly
disagree and no opinion or 4.) daily, weekly, occasionally, seasonally, and annually or
less. The survey was sent to 1,500 properties chosen randomly from the residential
parcels provided from a data base called the City Directory which is purchased by the
City of Oshkosh. The 267 responses constitute a 17.8 percent response rate which is
lower than the norm for citizen surveys and similar to the 17 percent return in 2009,
below the 22.5 percent return in 2010, and above the 16.5 percent in 2011. The
relationship between sample size and precision of the survey instrument at a 95 percent
confidence rate frequently used in surveys is shown below. The 267 responses create a
margin of error of approximately 6.2 percent. A level of 5 percent is considered
acceptable for most survey results. The confidence rate is 93.8 percent.
Sample Size Margin of Error
100 10%
300 5.5%
400 5.0%
800 3.5%
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How Citizens of Oshkosh Feel about Their City – Question
One, Five, Six, Seven and Eleven
Question One
How would you rate Oshkosh as a place to live?
There were 263 valid responses. 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 2.97. This shows that Oshkosh averaged out just below “good,” and well
above “fair.” Overall, the cumulative percentage results show that nearly 78.7% percent
of survey respondents thought Oshkosh was an excellent or good place to live. The 2.97
average rating is slightly higher than the 2.93 average for the 2011 Oshkosh Survey.
Analysis of cross-tabulations shows that about 86% of people who have lived in Oshkosh
over 20 years gave a positive response to this question. In comparison, roughly 60% of
people who have lived in Oshkosh less than five years gave similar ratings. This seems
to show that long-time residents are pleased with their city. The percentage of positive
responses among respondents living in Oshkosh over 20 years rose 6% from last year’s
survey, while the figure decreased by 7% among respondents living in the city 5 years or
less.
How would you rate the sense of community in Oshkosh?
There were 255 valid responses to the sense of community rating with 5 answers
of “no opinion.” The average score for sense of community was 2.62 placing it just
above “good”. This is a slight increase from the 2011 Oshkosh Survey result of 2.52.
54.7 percent of respondents feel a “positive” sense of community in Oshkosh. Again,
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“positive” refers to a combination of ‘excellent’ and ‘good’ responses. 41percent of
respondents rated Oshkosh as fair or poor while 4.7 percent had no opinion.
When cross-tabulating the data for sense of community and homeowner status it
shows that 72.8 percent of homeowners who responded have a “positive” sense of
community, an increase from the 2011 Oshkosh Survey result of 61 percent and the 2010
survey of 55 percent.
How would you rate your neighborhood as a place to live?
There were 262 valid responses to the neighborhood as a place to live question.
Using the four rating options, the average response is 3.09, this is the highest average
score among the questions in this section of the Oshkosh Survey. This indicates that
residents feel their neighborhoods in Oshkosh are slightly better than “good” places to
live. 51.2 percent of respondents felt their neighborhood is a good place to live while
29.5 percent felt that it is an excellent place to live. Only 17.3 percent of respondents had
negative feelings about their neighborhood, as a place to live. This positive response is
similar to the 2011 Oshkosh Survey result.
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How would you rate Oshkosh as a place to raise children?
There were 248 valid responses and 19 answers of “no-opinion” to this question,
with an average score of 2.96. Nearly 69 percent of respondents indicated a positive
response to Oshkosh as a place to raise children. Along gender lines, 72 percent of men
listed Oshkosh as a positive place to raise children, whereas women graded Oshkosh
positively at a rate of 79.5 percent. A look at the following crosstab tells us that among
men, 19.7 percent scored Oshkosh excellent, 52 percent marked good and 24 percent
chose fair. Among women, 33.7 percent chose excellent, 46 percent chose good, and 15.7
percent chose fair.
How would you rate Oshkosh as a place to retire?
There were 248 valid responses and 19 answers without an opinion to this
question. The mean score was 2.45. The results were split almost evenly, 46.5 percent
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negative and 46.1 percent positive, with roughly 7.5 percent undecided. The following
chart indicates that those respondents age 65+ rate Oshkosh more favorably (62.4 percent
positive) than those under 65 (36.4 percent positive).
Younger residents represent the future of the city. Oshkosh cannot afford to lose a
great number of them as they age. Consideration should be given to help make Oshkosh
more attractive to these residents, so that in their retirement years, they will still likely
reside in Oshkosh.
Survey results indicate that people who have lived in Oshkosh for over 20 years
rate Oshkosh a positive place to retire (63.7 percent). Of those results 46.3 percent are
male, and 53.8 percent are female.
How would you rate Oshkosh's community openness and acceptance to diversity?
There were 247 valid responses and 20 no-opinion answers to this question. 2.51
was the average for 2012. 48.5 percent of these valid responses grade Oshkosh as
positive regarding community openness and acceptance to diversity. 43.7 percent of
respondents scored a negative answer to this question.
The overwhelming majority of respondents identified their race as “white.”
Among those of other races, one each gave an answer of “no-opinion” and “good,” while
three answered “fair” for community openness and acceptance to diversity. Due to the
limited sample size of those identifying their race as “non-white,” the results likely
cannot be construed as statistically significant.
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How would you rate the overall quality of life in Oshkosh?
There were 263 valid responses and 3 no- opinion answer in grading the overall
quality of life in Oshkosh. 2.79 is the average for 2012. The results indicate that 83.4
percent of respondents view quality of life as positive in Oshkosh. These same results
translate across gender lines, as 72 percent of males and 79.7 percent females gave a
positive rating. This is result stayed the same over last year’s survey for males and
increased by 7 percent for females. The results are similar regardless of marital status.
How would you rate Oshkosh as an environmental friendly city?
There were 240 valid responses and 17 no-opinion answers to this question. 2.65
was the average feeling for 2012. The respondents feel positive that Oshkosh is an
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environmentally friendly city, at 58.3 percent. The percentage of residents who feel
Oshkosh is good at being environmentally friendly rose in 2012 by 8 percent.
How would you rate Oshkosh as a place to work?
There were 251 valid responses and 15 no-opinion answers to this question. 2.55
was the average rating 2012. Overall, 53.5 percent of all respondents view Oshkosh as a
positive place to work, 40.5 percent scored Oshkosh negatively, and 6 percent indicated
no opinion.
When accounting for education, 64.3 percent of respondents with a Master
Degree or Higher rate Oshkosh as a “good” place to work. The majority of respondents
from almost all levels of education scored Oshkosh as a “good” place to work, while a
majority of those with an associate degree or only a high school diploma rate Oshkosh in
the “fair category.”
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How would you rate the direction Oshkosh is moving for the future?
There were 249 valid responses and 18 no-opinion answers to this question.
About 38 percent of these valid responses express a positive attitude towards Oshkosh’s
plans for the future, which is similar to 2011’s survey where 40 percent of the responses
were positive, however 55 percent of respondents view Oshkosh’s direction for the future
negatively. Our analysis for a satisfaction score reveals the lowest rating in this question
than all the other questions in this section of the 2012 Oshkosh Survey, with an average
score of 2.27 (just above fair).
How would you rate the Affordability of living in the city of Oshkosh?
Of the 254 valid responses, 53.5 percent of respondents rated Oshkosh in the good
category. Most respondents feel that Oshkosh is an affordable place to live. 44.1 percent
of respondents say Oshkosh is not affordable, ranking it fair.
Question 5, 6, and 7
How safe or unsafe you feel in your neighborhood after dark?
There were 249 valid responses to the feeling of safety after dark rating. 76.3 %
(n=190) of responses rated feeling “safe” (n=122) or “very safe” (n=68) after dark,
compared to less than 8.8 % (n=22) who feel “unsafe” (n=21) or “very unsafe” (n=1).
The remaining 14.9% (n=37) of responses reported feeling “Neither Safe or Unsafe”.
With over 91% (n=252) of respondents rating the City of Oshkosh above “unsafe” and
only one response of “very unsafe,” there is a clear majority indicating that most
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residents feel safe in their neighborhood after dark. 7 % (n=18) of survey respondents
did not answer this question or put “Don’t Know”. 1
1 The formatting of this question and the following two questions has changed from previous years in order
to match the format of the International City Manager Association (ICMA) citizen survey, which would
better allow the City of Oshkosh to compare the safety of their city to other municipalities. Although the
format of this question has changed, the results were similar in that the overwhelming majority of responses
from both 2011 and 2012 indicated residents felt safe in their community.
During the past 12 months, were you or anyone in your household the victim of a
crime?
There were 262 valid responses to the victim of a crime question. 90.5% (n=237)
of respondents answered “No” to the victim of crime in the last 12 months question.
9.4% (n=25) of respondents answered “Yes” to the victim of crime in the last 12 months
question. It is unknown if the crimes occurred in the City of Oshkosh, or if the
perpetrator was an Oshkosh resident. 1.9% (n=5) of survey respondents did not answer
this question.1, 2
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During the past 12 months, were you or
anyone in your household the victim of a
crime
0
50
100
150
200
250
No Yes
2012
2 This is the first time this question has been asked in the Oshkosh citizen survey in order to match the
format of the International City Manager Association citizen survey.
If “Yes”, did you report all of these crimes?
When compared to the previous question if “anyone in their household had been
the victim of a crime”, there was an unexplained increase in responses to whether the
respondent reported all these crimes. One explanation was the wording of the question.
Despite the unexplained increase, 76% (n=19) of households that were a victim of crime
reported all of these crimes, 48% (n=12) did not report all of these crimes. 1,3
3 The results from this question may be skewed because more people responded to this question than those
who responded “Yes” to the previous question. 19 respondents replied “Yes” to the previous question,
“During the past 12 months, were you or anyone in your household the victim of a crime”. However, 262
respondents answered the question, “If ‘Yes,’ did you report all of these crimes” when there should have
only been 19 responses. 76% (r=19) of those who answered “Yes” to question 6 (r=25) responded “Yes”
they reported all of these crimes (r=19). 48% (n=12) of those who answered “Yes” to question 6 (n=25)
responded “No” (n=12) they did not report all of these crimes, resulting in four more “Yes”/”No”
responses than “Yes” responses to question 6 and a 124% response rate for this question. Also, there were
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an additional 227 (908%) respondents who answered “Don’t Know”. 1.5% (n=4) of survey respondents
did not answer this question.
Question 11
To what degree, if at all, are run-down buildings, weed lots or junk vehicles a
problem in Oshkosh?
There were 254 valid responses that rated how much of a problem run-down
buildings, weed lots, and junk vehicles were to the overall appearance of the city. Using
the five responses available, nearly 40% of respondents scored it as a “minor problem”.
Approximately 31% of respondents scored it as a “moderate problem”, while almost 9%
of respondents scored it as a “major problem”. About 10% of respondents scored it as
“not a problem” and another 10% of respondents scored it as “don’t know”.
The 2011 survey asked the about the overall appearance of the city, with the
majority, 55%, of respondents scoring the city in a negative way. When comparing that
score to the scores of the 2012 survey, over 50% of the respondents scored that run-down
buildings, weed lots, and junk vehicles are either not a problem or a minor problem.
These numbers show a potential 5% positive increase in how the city is viewed.
An important consideration should be given to the time of year when this survey
was administered. With February being a winter month, the potential for weed lots to be
covered in snow is high. This may have had an impact on how respondents scored this
question.
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4 T he formatting of this question changed from previous years in order to match the format of the
International City Manager Association (ICMA) citizen survey, which would better allow the City of
Oshkosh to compare the residents’ opinions on the appearance of the city to other municipalities. Although
the formatting changed this year, the responses from 2012 could still be compared to 2011 for this question.
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Importance and Quality of Services - Questions Three & Four
Importance of Services
The 2012 City of Oshkosh Survey data will help provide some validity to the
2011 citizen survey and offer a deeper insight into the general opinions of its citizens.
This could give the city manager and elected officials a clear picture of what services the
general public sees as important and which services are of little importance to them. In
order for services to improve, stay relevant or change altogether, the City of Oshkosh
polls its citizens and from this data helps to determine the City of Oshkosh’s policies and
procedures based on level of perceived importance. It is important to note that the
information provided in these sections is indicative of the individuals that were polled
and although a fairly large sample was obtained, in the end the results reflect the
demographic that was polled.
The analysis of the 2012 City of Oshkosh survey shows that certain services are
deemed very important, by reflecting over 70% of the responses in the “very important”
category of the survey. These services are Police Services (79.80%), Fire Protection and
Prevention Services (79.00%), Emergency Medical and Rescue Services (78.30%),
Emergency Warning Systems (75.80%), Removal of Snow and Ice from City Streets
(75.60%) and Street Repair (70.50%). Once again these are the services that have been
deemed by the respondents of the 2012 City of Oshkosh survey to be most important and
the results are similar to the 2011 City of Oshkosh survey where each of these same
services were reported most important. In addition to the top four areas of 2012 is
Emergency Warning Systems (75.80%), and Street Repair (70.50%) which was absent in
the 2011 survey. The high results of 2011 stayed in 80th percentile while that of 2012 is
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in the 70’s. Reasons may be weather related. Unlike 2012, the weather was very
extreme (colder and higher accumulation of snow) in 2011, citizens frequently utilized
most of the services.
After the 2012 City of Oshkosh survey was analyzed, five services reflected the
least important to the respondents. The five services with the lowest perceived level of
importance are the Lake Shore Golf Course (11.60%), Pollock Aquatic Center (19.60%),
Recreational Programs and Classes (21.70%), Land Use, Planning and Zoning Services
(22.80%), City Support for Neighborhood Organizations (24.20%). The category
Recreational Programs and Classes (21.70%) was added to the survey this year scored
amongst the lowest five. Planning and zoning dropped from 31.40% in 2011 to 22.80% in
2012. The percentage total reflected above was the percentage of “very important”
responses. The decision to rate these services low may include such factors as: (I) the
timing of the survey; (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.
Tables summarizing the responses and a bar chart illustrating the services have
been included, from most to least important, as surveyed from respondent citizens.
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Very
Important
Somewhat
Important
Somewhat
Unimportant
Very
Unimportant
Animal Control, Licensing and Regulation 31.20%45.20%14.50% 8.60%
Bike and Pedestrian Trails 35.50% 47.90% 11.20% 7.40%
Building Permits and Inspection 34.90%40.20%19.70% 5.20%
Community Media Cable TV, Radio, Internet
Services 28.90% 38.60% 23.20% 9.20%
City Parking Facilities 26.10%48.10%19.50% 6.20%
City Support for Neighborhood Organizations 24.20% 49.60% 16.90% 9.10%
City's Sidewalk System 50.40%36.10%9.90% 3.60%
Economic Development Assistance to
Businesses 35.90% 43.50% 15.60% 5.10%
Efforts to improve the quality of housing 38.80%46.50%11.80% 2.90%
Emergency Medical and Rescue Services 78.30% 18.20% 2.40% 1.20%
Emergency Warning Systems 75.80%19.10%3.50% 1.60%
Enforcement of Property
Maintenance/Nuisances Codes 39.30% 43.30% 11.70% 5.70%
Fire Protection and Prevention services 79.00%17.90%1.60% 1.60%
Lake Shore Golf Course 11.60% 24.20% 31.20% 33.00%
Land Use, Planning, and Zoning Services 22.80%49.60%21.90% 5.80%
Leaf and Brush Pick up 37.20% 45.60% 14.00% 3.20%
Maintenance/Appearance of City Parks &
Greenways 45.50%45.10%7.80% 1.60%
Maintenance of City-Owned Building 35.10% 54.00% 9.70% 1.20%
Oshkosh Public Museum 31.20%51.00%13.60% 3.60%
Police Services 79.80% 16.70% 2.30% 1.20%
Pollock Aquatic Center 19.60%47.80%24.80% 7.80%
Public Health Programs 37.40% 45.30% 13.20% 4.10%
Public Library Services 53.60%36.90%6.00% 3.60%
Recreation Programs and Classes 21.70% 50.60% 20.90% 6.80%
Recycling Collection Services 60.30%32.70%4.70% 2.30%
Refuse collection Service 65.70% 27.60% 5.50% 1.20%
Regulation and Zoning for land Use 26.00%50.20%19.50% 4.30%
Removal of Snow and Ice From City Streets 75.60% 21.40% 1.90% 1.10%
Response to Citizen Complaints and Requests 44.00%46.10%8.30% 1.70%
Senior Services Center 33.00% 44.30% 18.70% 3.90%
Storm Drainage Systems 61.60%32.40%4.80% 1.20%
Street Lighting 54.40% 37.50% 5.00% 3.10%
Street Maintenance and Sweeping 48.50%43.50%7.30% 0.80%
Street Repair 70.50% 27.60% 1.10% 0.80%
Traffic Signs and Signals 61.50%34.60%3.10% 0.80%
Transit System 32.50% 42.60% 15.60% 9.30%
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Important
Unimportant
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Quality of Service
The survey offers insight into citizenry attitudes in regards to quality of services
provided. Question three is an attempt to quantify the attitudes of the City of Oshkosh
citizenry. Again, in these categories, areas that rated high in excellent quality in 2011
also rated high in 2012. The 2011 survey found Fire Protection and Prevention Services,
Emergency Medical Services, Police Protection services, Public Library Services, Refuse
collection services and recycling services to rate highest in terms perceived quality with a
fair or above rating.
In the 2012 survey results, these same five services rated in the combined good
and excellent ranking in over (80%) of the respondents. In addition, Refuse Collection
and Recycled Services which still rated high were broken down into two separate groups.
Specifically, the combined good or excellent ratings were: Fire Protection and Prevention
Services (88.4%), Emergency Medical Services (88.4%) and Police Protection (85.6%).
Since these services can be viewed as key elements of public safety and health
and welfare, it would be important to have the citizens perceive the services as being
provided in a high quality manner.
In 2011 the categories that rated poor were, Street Paving, Maintenance
Sweeping and Repair (31.9%), this category was split into Street Repair and Maintenance
and Sweeping in 2012: Transportation Plans for Traffic (11.1%); Building Permits and
Inspections (13.7%), Bike and Pedestrian Trails (12.4%); Economic and Development
Assistance to Business (7.7%) and in terms of poor quality rating Storm Drainage System
(32.6%) was the lowest.
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The results of the 2012 survey reflect quite differently from that of 2012. The
poor quality ratings were worse than that of 2011. Almost all the categories were higher
in terms of the percentage of respondents who perceive the quality to be poor which
shows less improvement from 2011. The results in 2012 are: Street repair (31.90%),
Storm Drainage Systems (20.50%), Response to Citizen Complaints and Request
(16.40%), Enforcement and Property Maintenance (13.50%) and Maintenance and
Sweeping (11.60%). In terms of 2012 poor quality ratings after 2011 comparisons,
Efforts to Improve the Quality of Housing (11.80%), Economic Development Assistance
to Businesses (11.30%), Building Permits and Inspections (10.90%) and Removal of
Snow and Ice from City Streets (10.70%) follow as the lowest quality. Timing is most
certainly a factor in the poor rating for this item, since the survey was completed during a
particularly bad weather time period. Transportation plans for traffic is the only category
rated poor in 2011, which is absent in the 2012 questionnaire.
Twenty four, of the survey categories had a good or excellent rating by more than
50% of the respondents (similar to 2011 with sixteen over 50%). Nine categories had a
poor rating by 10% or more.
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Excellent
Quality
Good
Quality
Fair
Quality
Poor
Quality
Animal Control, Licensing and Regulation 14.30% 55.00% 25.00% 5.70%
Bike and Pedestrian Trails 8.20% 50.00% 33.20% 8.70%
Building Permits and Inspection 6.00% 44.90% 37.80% 10.90%
Community Media Cable TV, Radio, Internet Services 12.40% 49.90% 31.70% 6.40%
City Parking Facilities 4.70% 43.80% 44.60% 6.90%
City Support for Neighborhood Organizations 5.20% 43.20% 43.20% 8.40%
City's Sidewalk System 9.80% 48.80% 34.10% 7.30%
Economic Development Assistance to Businesses 8.00% 40.00% 40.70% 11.30%
Efforts to improve the quality of housing 6.50% 38.60% 43.10% 11.80%
Emergency Medical and Rescue Services 41.50% 46.90% 11.20% 0.40%
Emergency Warning Systems 24.90% 59.30% 14.10% 1.70%
Enforcement of Property Maintenance/Nuisances Codes 7.60% 41.20% 37.60% 13.50%
Fire Protection and Prevention services 46.00% 42.40% 10.70% 0.00%
Lake Shore Golf Course 12.60% 53.30% 30.40% 3.70%
Land Use, Planning, and Zoning Services 5.80% 40.60% 42.80% 10.90%
Leaf and Brush Pick up 23.70% 51.30% 21.60% 3.40%
Maintenance/Appearance of City Parks & Greenways 16.40% 53.30% 26.20% 3.70%
Maintenance of City-Owned Building 7.40% 55.10% 34.30% 3.20%
Oshkosh Public Museum 29.50% 52.70% 17.40% 0.40%
Police Services 42.60% 43.00% 11.00% 3.00%
Pollock Aquatic Center 25.50% 58.80% 14.50% 1.20%
Public Health Programs 17.10% 57.50% 23.30% 2.10%
Public Library Services 41.50% 45.00% 12.70% 0.90%
Recreation Programs and Classes 16.80% 56.40% 24.80% 2.00%
Recycling Collection Services 38.00% 47.20% 12.40% 2.40%
Refuse collection Service 36.50% 49.80% 11.60% 2.10%
Regulation and Zoning for land Use 4.70% 50.40% 35.70% 9.30%
Removal of Snow and Ice From City Streets 17.00% 39.10% 33.20% 10.70%
Response to Citizen Complaints and Requests 7.50% 43.30% 32.80% 16.40%
Senior Services Center 20.70% 49.30% 26.40% 3.60%
Storm Drainage Systems 6.30% 36.20% 36.60% 20.50%
Street Lighting 9.30% 54.30% 31.20% 5.30%
Street Maintenance and Sweeping 12.40% 48.60% 27.30% 11.60%
Street Repair 7.30% 27.00% 33.90% 31.90%
Traffic Signs and Signals 12.50% 62.10% 22.20% 3.20%
Transit System 10.20% 59.30% 25.10% 5.40%
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High Quality
Low Quality
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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:
Emergency Medical and Rescue Services, Fire protection and Prevention Services, Police
Services and emergency warning systems.
The analysis of the 2012 of the Oshkosh demonstrated that certain services where
viewed by the respondents as important and good quality. These services received 80%
or higher from the combined score of the “very important” and the “somewhat important”
responses but received greater than 55 % or lower from the combined score of the
“excellent quality” and the “good quality” responses in the quality of services category.
These services are Street repair, with a combined importance of (98.1%) and a combined
quality of (34.3%). Response to Citizen Complaints and Requests with a combined
importance of (90.1%) and a combined quality score of (50.8%) and Storm Drainage
Systems with a combined importance of (94%) and a combined quality of (42.3%).
Although there are less categories with such combination this year, all three categories
for this year were also in last year’s findings.
In conclusion of the analysis of the importance and quality of services for 2012, it
is a fair statement that services that had the least discrepancies between the importance
and quality of services were essential services like Emergency Medical and Rescue
Services, Police Services and Fire Protection and Prevention Services. However, services
with lower rank in the level of importance were the services that were not in season like
Lake Shore Golf Course and Pollock Aquatic Center, which could be a part that to the
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fact that the services were not being utilized at the time of the survey. Categories, which
scored high in the area of importance but were rated somewhere in the middle for its
quality should be given attention.
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Section 2 and 3 Response Comparison
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Frequency of Usage of Services
Daily Weekly Occasio
nally
Season
ally
Annual
ly/Less
Animal Control, Licensing and Regulation 3 1 10 3 228
Bike and Pedestrian Trails 10 25 42 61 119
Building Permits and Inspection 1 3 44 5 197
Community Media Cable TV, Radio, Internet Services 63 30 70 6 80
City Parking Facilities 4 29 143 8 73
Emergency Medical and Rescue Services 1 1 32 4 216
Enforcement of Property Maintenance/Nuisances Codes 2 1 27 7 212
Fire Protection and Prevention services 2 4 12 7 224
Lake Shore Golf Course 2 8 29 27 181
Land Use, Planning, and Zoning Services 3 0 22 8 213
Leaf and Brush Pick up 3 14 48 128 64
Oshkosh Public Museum 4 5 96 22 125
Police Services 3 0 53 6 188
Pollock Aquatic Center 3 3 30 42 170
Public Health Programs 2 3 38 9 194
Public Library Services 9 58 117 6 71
Recreation Programs and Classes 3 21 58 8 158
Recycling Collection Services 14 185 36 2 21
Refuse collection Service 5 175 22 6 47
Response to Citizen Complaints and Requests 2 8 27 4 204
Senior Services Center 5 10 28 3 201
Transit System 11 8 18 1 207
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Budgeting Priorities – Questions Eight and Nine
Section eight and nine, as with last year, asked survey respondents to give dollar
amounts to nine city service areas using first a hypothetical $1 million dollar budget
surplus (question 8) and second assuming a hypothetical $1 million dollar shortfall
(question 9). The nine service areas listed for consideration: Community Services,
Economic Development, Refuse and Recycling, Finance and Administration, Police
Protection, Fire, Parks, Storm Water, and Road Maintenance. Responses for question 8
and 9 were 203 (13.5%) which is an increase from last years level of 148 (9.9%) and 142
(9.5%), respectively. This amounts to an increase in question replies of about 4
percentage points. However, overall survey response rate had increased from 248 in 2011
(16.5%) to 267 in 2012 (17.8%), an increase of 1.3%. These questions continue to be
plagued with lower response rates as nearly 1 in 4 respondents that take the time to
complete the survey and send it in, still do not answer questions 8 or 9.
Budget Increase
When examining allocation of a $1 million surplus, the rankings for the top four
(4) priorities and the lowest priority did not change from 2011 to 2012. Road
Maintenance ranked as the highest preference for receipt of excess dollars, followed by
Storm Water, Economic Development, and Police Protection (Figure 1). Ranking lowest
to receive excess funding is Finance and Administration. Of the nine categories, over half
(5) received at least one survey response allotting the full excess amount of one million
dollars: Community Services, Economic Development, Parks, Storm Water, and Road
Maintenance. This is an increase from 2011 when only Road Maintenance and Storm
Water received $1 million. Respondents are starting to exhibit an increasing need for
excess funding in Community Services, Economic Development, and Parks. The most
frequent choice of respondents was to allocate funds to Road Maintenance which is a
change from the previous year selection of Fire Suppression/Prevention (183 out of 203
responses allocated funds to Road Maintenance). The mean value of responses for
increasing the Road Maintenance budget was $253,542. The second highest mean value
was for Storm Water, with an average increase of $165,133.
28
Figure 1: 2012 Mean Allocation of Hypothetical Budget Surplus
While rankings remain identical to 2011, the mean allocation value of each
category fluctuate a little (Figure 2). Only three areas show a decline in mean value,
Storm Water declined by $57,230 (26%), Road Maintenance declined by $1,330 (0.5%),
and Finance and Administration declined by $4,340 (13%). Even with a decline in mean
dollar values Road Maintenance and Storm Water remain the top two priorities. Modest
increases in mean dollar values occur for all remaining categories except Finance and
Administration.
When considering budget surplus, several categories receive similar dollar
amounts and can be presumed to be trending closer to being viewed equally. Economic
Development, Police Protection, Community Services, and Parks are each allocated
between $129,000 and $90,576. The disparity gap of allocation distribution of categorical
means may be starting to trend closer to $111,111 (the true average of 9 categories
splitting $1 million equally). Thus, residents continue to feel Road Maintenance is the top
priority, Finance and Administration is the low priority, and remaining categories
priorities may be starting to show parity; since the mean dollar values are starting to trend
closer to each other.
29
Figure 2: 2012 Mean Surplus Allocation Compared to Previous Years
Answers to question 8 (allocation of budget surplus) can be examined with data
responses of level of importance (question 3) and quality of service (question 4).
Allocations presented substantiate the level of importance and quality of service ratings
provided by respondents when asked to rate each for Oshkosh. Answers for level of
importance ranked the highest (95.9%) for Street Repair being viewed as “very” or
“somewhat” important. Responses for quality of services (question 4) for street repair,
storm drainage, and street maintenance were the predominant negative rating categories
of “poor” with 29.6%, 17.2%, and 10.1% respectively. These ratings are nearly the same
in percentages from 2011. This implies that Oshkosh residents continue to view street
repairs, storm drainage, and street maintenance services as high importance, low quality,
and in need of additional funding to fix the problems. When comparing 2012 survey
response rankings for spending hypothetical budget surplus to 2011, the rankings are
identical. This implies that demand for Oshkosh provision and level of services may not
have changed from the previous year. This would indicate that respondents feel the same
this year as last year in regards to city needs.
Budget Reduction
When given a situation in which the City of Oshkosh budget must be trimmed by
$1 million and using the same basic nine service categories, Finance and Administration,
30
Economic Development, Community Services and Parks rank as the four most likely
categories to see a decline in funding (Figure 3). Interestingly, Economic Development
and Parks switched places in rankings for this question from the 2011 survey to the
current 2012 survey, 2nd and 4th respectively. Just like in 2010 and 2011, Finance and
Administration is overwhelmingly the most popular service to make cuts (182 out of 203
responses allocate some amount of cut). The mean reduction for Finance and
Administration of $260,310 is 42% more than the second category of Economic
Development ($150,870). Interestingly, 39 respondents recommended a reduction of
more than $500,000, and seven respondents recommended a reduction of the full million
dollars be made in Finance and Administration.
Figure 3: 2012 Mean Allocation of Hypothetical Budget Deficit
Similar to 2010 and 2011 survey results, Fire Suppression/Prevention, Road
Maintenance, Police Protection, and Storm Water are the four least likely categories to
see a budget cut (Figure 4). In fact, 104 (51%) of respondents recommended no budget
cut for Road Maintenance. The mean reduction for the lowest three categories of Fire
Suppression/Protection, Road Maintenance, and Police Protection vary by only $900;
$65,460, $66,000, and $66,360 respectively. An increase in budget cuts occurred for all
categories except Parks, Community Services, and Police Protection when compared to
2011. Comparing the means from 2011 to 2012, Storm Water saw the largest percentage
change (38.5%), an increased deficit allocation of $19,920. Parks saw the most
substantial dollar change from 2011, a decreased deficit allocation of $45,790 (29.7%),
31
from 2011 recommended average decrease of $154,410 to a 2012 recommended average
decrease of $108,620.
Figure 4: 2012 Mean Budget Deficit Allocation Compared to Previous Years
This tends to be supported when examining level of importance, as Street Repair,
Police, and Fire ranked as the highest categories of importance (over 93% of respondents
rated them as “very” or “somewhat” important). In contract, Parks related activities of
Golf Course, Aquatic Center, and Recreation Program(s) rated at the lower end of the
importance scale with only 28.9%, 58.1%, and 63.7% of respondents rating them as
“very” or “somewhat” important. Thus, categories deemed “very” or “somewhat”
important tended to have lower allocation declines than categories that rated otherwise.
When examining quality criteria ratings from respondents, several categories have
a large percentage (41.6% to 51.7%) of responses in the category “Don’t Know”. The
services included within this anomaly include; Regulation, Citizen Complaints, Golf
Course, Land Use, Animal Control, Senior Services, Public Health, Recreation Programs,
Economic Development, Improve Housing, City Support Neighborhood Groups, and
Building Permits. Considering that most of these categories relate to the highest dollar
cutting categories of Finance and Administration, Economic Development, Community
Services and Parks it seems a disconnect may be occurring within the data. For example,
almost one half of respondents (92 of 203) stated they “Don’t Know” the level of quality
for Public Health or City Support of Neighborhood Organizations, yet when cutting
dollars from budgets 70% (141 out of 203) feel cuts should be made to Community
Services. There seems to be a disconnection between the fact that large amounts of
32
respondents want to see major cuts to Finance/Administration, Economic Development,
and Community Services yet over 40% respond “Don’t Know” about the level of quality
provision by the City. Similarly, this issue seems to occur for Parks. Almost half of
respondents (44.2%) stated that they “Don’t Know” when asked about level of quality for
Recreation Programs. However, a larger proportion, 68% (139 out of 203), prefer to see
reductions in spending for Parks when budget shortfalls occur. For Parks, the answer may
be as simple as not all people use the programs and a percentage of users that do not use
them feel that cuts can be made to that area. However, it appears that some areas of
government, Finance/Administration, Economic Development, and Community Services
may find a better foothold by educating the public about the function and success of their
activities.
Net Increase or Decrease
Another interesting way to look at responses from the hypothetical addition and
subtraction of the $1 million is to combine the two numbers so that they reflect citizen
opinion of a budget with neither a shortfall nor surplus (Figure 5). This can be very
telling of the priorities of the respondents. For this to be statistically valid, only surveys
in which the respondent completed both questions eight and nine (203 of the total 267
responses) are utilized.
Figure 5: 2012 Net Surplus or Deficit of City Budget
187,000
93,000
36,000 11,000
‐18,000 ‐21,000 ‐25,000 ‐33,000
‐230,000‐300,000
‐200,000
‐100,000
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
33
Of the nine categories listed in this section, only four received a net positive
allocation in 2012: Road Maintenance, Storm Water, Fire Suppression/Protection, and
Police Protection. These categories of net positive allocation match up with consensus of
unfavorable quality (Street Repair, Storm Drainage), high importance (Street Repair,
Police and Fire), and favorable level of quality (Police). Exactly as last year, citizens of
Oshkosh feel most strongly about basic services such as infrastructure, police, and fire
protection and they seek dollar allocations to correspond to those feelings.
SURVEY DATA – SECTIONS EIGHT AND NINE
# 8 - Extra $1 million 2011 Rank 2011 Mean* 2012 Rank 2012 Mean*
Road Maintenance 1 254.87 1 253.54
Storm Water 2 222.36 2 165.13
Economic Development 3 127.08 3 129.29
Police Protection 4 88.84 4 102.76
Community Services 5 78.21 5 96.91
Parks 6 77.68 6 90.50
Fire Suppression/ Prevention 7 73.79 7 77.11
Refuse and Recycling 8 43.06 8 54.89
Finance and Administration 9 34.13 9 29.79
# 9 - Reduce $1 million 2011 Rank 2011 Mean* 2012 Rank 2012 Mean*
Finance and Administration 1 244.91 1 260.32
Economic Development 4 137.88 2 150.86
Community Development 3 141.14 3 122.09
Parks 2 154.40 4 108.62
Refuse and Recycling 5 80.72 5 88.73
Storm Water 9 51.63 6 71.55
Police 6 75.23 7 66.36
Road Maintenance 8 56.17 8 66.00
Fire Suppression/Protection 7 57.91 9 65.46
*In thousands
34
SECTION 8 AND 9 – NET CHANGE
2012 Add* 2012 Subtract* Difference*
Road Maintenance 253.54 -66.00 187.43
Storm Water 165.13 -71.55 93.48
Police Protection 102.75 -66.36 36.26
Fire and Rescue 77.11 -65.46 11.52
Parks 90.57 -108.62 -18.15
Economic Development 129.28 -150.86 -21.16
Community Development 96.91 -122.09 -25.16
Refuse and Recycling 54.88 -88.73 -33.82
Finance and Administration 29.79 -260.32 -230.01
*In thousands
35
Funding of City Services – Question Ten
This section of the survey asks residents how they perceive funding the current services
offered by the City of Oshkosh. Last year {2011) there were five options for the
residents and for 2012 there were four options, maintain through efficiency, reduce taxes
by grants, reduce taxes by increasing service fees and charges, and increase of taxes to
maintain and increase services. The residents were asked to strongly agree, somewhat
agree, neither agree/disagree, somewhat disagree, strongly disagree and no opinion.
The results for 2012:
Frequencies
Percentages
Strongly
Agree
Somewhat
Agree
Neither
Agree/Disagree
Somewhat
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
No Opinion
Maintain
through
Efficiency
48.4 31.9 8.3 7.1 4.3 4.9
Reduce /
Grants 23.8 45.1 18.4 9.0 3.7 8.6
Increase in
Service
Fees/Charges
6.7 29.6 20.2 20.2 23.3 5.2
Increase
Taxes to
Maintain /
Increase
Services
15.9 34.7 11.6 12.7 25.1 6.0
Compared to the results from 2011:
Frequencies
Percentages
Strongly
Agree
Somewhat
Agree
Neither
Agree/Disagree
Somewhat
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
No Opinion
Maintain
through
Efficiency
41.9 35.6 8.9 5.5 5.5 2.5
Reduce /
Grants 20.4 39.6 23 7.7 3.8 5.5
Increase in
Service
Fees/Charges
7.2 25.5 19.6 19.6 25.1 3
Increase
Taxes to
Maintain /
Increase
Services
16.7 27.8 13.2 14.5 26.1 1.7
There is a slight variation between 2011 and 2012 however; when you look at the results
from 2010 there is a significant change in resident opinion:
36
Frequencies
Percentages
Strongly
Agree
Somewhat
Agree
Neither
Agree/Disagree
Somewhat
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
No Opinion
Maintain
through
Efficiency
34.3 31.4 20.0 2.9 5.7 5.7
Reduce /
Grants 31.4 40.0 22.9 0 5.7 0
Increase in
Service
Fees/Charges
0 14.3 40.0 25.7 20.0 0
Increase
Taxes to
Maintain /
Increase
Services
22.9 25.7 14.3 20.0 17.1 0
Reduce Taxes Through Efficiency:
By using 2010-2012 you can see the economic strains are taking affect, and the residents
are coming to terms that the services currently being offered are privileges versus
expected. The highest percentage for 2012 is to maintain current services through
efficiency, which equals a compromise between the residents and the City of Oshkosh
regarding the currently provided services. With all municipalities’ budgets under the
magnifying glass, this shows the community’s awareness and understanding regarding
city services they value. With the majority of respondents in favor of this option the city
may look at alternative ways of accomplishing the same tasks.
Reduce taxes through Grants:
This option stayed relatively consistent from 2010 to 2012, there is still a strong
representation of respondents that do not wish the city to acquire more grants to keep the
taxes down. There is an 8.9% increase from 2011 to 2012 in favor of this option. In
addition the negative responses went down between 2011 and 2012 by 3.4% which is
also encouraging.
Reducing Taxes by Increasing Fees and Charges:
There was a favorable increase from 2011 to 2012 of 3.7%, however comparing 2010 to
2012 there is a significant favorable increase for this option of 22.1%. This only over
three years shows how the economic strains have affected the residents and their
understanding of the financial constraints affecting a municipality.
37
Increase of taxes to Maintain/Increase Service:
For this option there is little variance between 2011 and 2012 in favor 3.7 % increase
however, in 2010 those in favor was 48.6% which there is a 12.2% decrease in favor. On
the disagreement side, in 2010 51.4% respondents, in 2011 53.8% and in 2012 49.4%
with only a slight variance of respondents not in favor.
Demographics for these questions:
Using the most common of demographics, male/female, age, income, education the
following was noted for 2012:
Maintain through
Efficiency
Strongly
Agree
Somewhat
Agree
Neither
Agree/Disagree
Somewhat
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
Male
Female
76
45
51
30
15
6
8
10
9
2
Under 60 years old
Over 60 years old
70
48
43
36
10
10
12
5
9
2
Income
>24,999
25,000-49,999
50k-74,999
75k-99,999
100k+
13
34
31
17
14
13
19
23
11
11
1
7
9
2
2
1
3
5
4
3
1
1
3
4
1
Education
Less than HS
HS/GED
Associate
Bachelor’s
Master’s or Higher
1
45
35
21
18
2
25
30
12
12
0
6
11
2
2
0
1
6
5
6
0
0
3
3
5
Reduce through
Grants
Strongly
Agree
Somewhat
Agree
Neither
Agree/Disagree
Somewhat
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
Male
Female
37
21
67
41
26
19
15
7
8
1
Under 60 years old
Over 60 years old
38
17
57
50
27
17
14
8
5
3
Income
>24,999
25,000-49,999
50k-74,999
75k-99,999
100k+
5
10
13
9
10
14
24
34
16
15
6
12
14
5
5
2
4
8
5
3
0
1
1
3
2
Education
Less than HS
HS/GED
Associate
Bachelor’s
Master’s or Higher
0
15
20
12
11
1
34
37
16
20
0
16
17
8
4
0
8
6
3
3
0
1
2
2
3
38
Reduce Taxes
Increase Fees
Strongly
Agree
Somewhat
Agree
Neither
Agree/Disagree
Somewhat
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
Male
Female
9
8
49
26
38
13
30
21
32
25
Under 60 years old
Over 60 years old
6
10
38
36
37
13
30
20
33
21
Income
>24,999
25,000-49,999
50k-74,999
75k-99,999
100k+
1
6
4
2
3
7
16
25
11
13
9
11
19
3
5
4
16
9
11
7
8
13
13
11
7
Education
Less than HS
HS/GED
Associate
Bachelor’s
Master’s or Higher
1
5
4
1
6
0
23
22
15
15
0
19
15
10
6
0
14
23
6
8
1
16
21
10
9
Increase Taxes
Maintain/Increase
Services
Strongly
Agree
Somewhat
Agree
Neither
Agree/Disagree
Somewhat
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
Male
Female
24
16
54
32
17
2
25
7
39
23
Under 60 years old
Over 60 years old
27
12
45
40
17
12
22
10
34
23
Income
>24,999
25,000-49,999
50k-74,999
75k-99,999
100k+
4
11
10
9
6
13
20
30
11
8
5
6
9
5
4
1
11
5
8
8
7
14
14
10
8
Education
Less than HS
HS/GED
Associate
Bachelor’s
Master’s or Higher
2
6
12
7
13
0
26
34
14
12
0
9
11
4
5
0
13
10
4
5
1
21
19
11
9
39
Comments - Question Twelve
A number of themes emerged from the statements provided by citizens in the
Oshkosh Citizens Survey. The most repeated theme is that citizens feel that the city needs
to focus on developing and beautifying the city- in particular the Riverwalk area. A
number of citizens feel that developing the Riverwalk area would result in increased
business development and increased tourism. A number of citizens felt that Oshkosh
needs to make steps to “modernize” the city. This would help the city compete with
neighboring cities and possibly draw businesses and people who might otherwise choose
a nearby larger city to do business in.
Along with developing this area, many citizens feel that the attractiveness of the
city is below par and would like something done about things such as worn-down homes,
junky yards, abandoned buildings and unmaintained city parks. Another theme repeated
throughout the survey was citizen’s dissatisfaction with the city’s streets systems. There
were many gripes about the city street sweeper and that it is unnecessary and costly item.
There were also many complaints about the city streets and the lack of repairs. Also,
many people are unsatisfied with the city’s snow plowing efforts in the winter months.
Many citizens want to see more done to make Oshkosh a biker-friendly city. They
would like to see more bike paths and lanes developed within the city. Another repeated
complaint was that taxes are too high. They felt the city could lower taxes by cutting the
“administrative” costs, lowering the salaries and benefits of city workers and/or laying
off city workers as some felt there are too many city employees. Also, a number
mentioned cutting unnecessary programs. One program some felt is unnecessary is
maintenance of the city parks. However, several people argued the opposite saying that
the city needs to put more time and effort in preserving the parks thus making them
attractive and enjoyable.
Lastly, many people are dissatisfied with the public bus system in Oshkosh. Many
felt that large buses are often empty and are a waste of money and energy. Some people
suggested operating smaller buses to save costs. At the same time, a number felt that
ending bus service at 6:00 pm was unaccommodating.
40
In addition to the many critical suggestions, a number of people did praise the city
administration. They appreciate the open communication between the government and
the public.
41
Analysis of Survey Results to Demographics of City – Question Thirteen
The following survey demographics were requested from the survey participants and
compared to the census data from 2006-2009 for the City of Oshkosh. The column
representing population statistics Without Institutions was inserted to reflect the numbers
of census reports that come from institutions such as the correctional institutions and the
campus dormitories, which were not included in the parcel base for this survey.
Survey Survey Oshkosh Without
Results % Census Institution
Gender Male 166 62.2% 51.3%
Female 96 36.0% 48.7%
Missing 4
Year Born 18 to 60 150 56.2% 78.0% 74.6%
Over 60 105 39.3% 22.0% 25.4%
Missing 12
Marital Status Married 175 65.5% 37.9% 43.7%
Not Married 66 24.7% 55.9% 49.1%
Widowed 19 7.1% 6.2% 7.2%
Missing 7
Time Lived in 5 or less 23 8.6%
Oshkosh 6 to 20 64 24.0%
>20 173 64.8%
Missing 6
Rent or Own Own 236 88.4% 59.6%
Rent 24 9.0% 40.4%
Missing 7
Number of None 197 73.8% 72.9%
Children 1 26 9.7% 27.1%
2 30 11.2%
3 or More 8 3.0%
Missing 6
Place of North of Fox 90 33.7% 56.4% 50.8%
Residence South of Fox/East of 41 93 34.8% 31.6% 35.7%
South of Fox/West of 41 78 29.2% 11.9% 13.5%
Missing 6
Income Under 24,999 30 11.2% 28%
25k to 49,999 66 24.7% 29.3%
50k to 74,999 72 27.0% 21.0%
75k to 99,999 40 15.0% 11.2%
Over 100k 36 13.5% 10.5%
Missing 23
Employment Employed Full Time 136 50.9%
Status Employed Part Time 10 3.7%
Self Employed 14 5.2%
Presently Unemployed 8 3.0% 5.9%
Retired 91 34.1%
Missing 8
42
Occupation Homemaker 10 3.7% 3.2%
Service Occupations 23 8.6% 22.2%
Sales 20 7.5% 26.3%
Education 19 7.1% 6.3%
Professional Management 47 17.6% 21.1%
Farming, Fishing, or Forestry 2 0.7%
Construction, Maintenance 9 3.4% 4.4%
Production/Transportation 22 8.2% 19.1%
Other 19 7.1% 0.2%
Missing 94
Education Less than HS 4 1.5% 13.3%
HS/GED 79 29.6% 56.2%
Associates/Some College 88 33.0% 7.0%
Bachelors 46 17.2% 16.5%
Masters or higher 45 16.9% 7.0%
Missing 5
Race White 255 95.5% 88.6%
Native Hawaiian 1 0.4% 0.0%
Hispanic or Latino 1 0.4% 2.5%
Asian 2 0.7% 3.4%
African-American 0 2.9%
American Indian 0 0.5%
Two or More Races 0 0.0%
Other 0 0.0%
Missing 8
Gender – Of the survey respondents, 62.2% were male while 36% were female. The
male response was higher than the Oshkosh Census survey, while the female’s results
were under the census survey.
Year Born – Respondents between the ages of 18 through 60 years of age made up
56.2% with the remaining 39.3% were respondents over the age 60 years. The Oshkosh
Census forecast populations of 78% of the participants were between the ages of 18
through 60 years of age and the 22% were over the age of 60 years of age.
Marital Status – The 2012 City of Oshkosh City survey results were 65.5% of the
participants were married, 24.7% were not married, and 7.1% widowed. These numbers
were significantly different for both the married, single with married at 37.9%, and single
at 55.9%, while widowed respondents was similar, according to the Oshkosh census
survey.
Time Lived in Oshkosh - The 2012 City of Oshkosh Citizen survey revealed that 8.6%
of the respondents have lived in Oshkosh less than 5 years, 24% have lived in Oshkosh 6
43
to 20 years and 64.8% live in Oshkosh 20 years or longer. There was not a comparison
for this data on the Census survey.
Rent or Own – The 2012 City Of Oshkosh survey demonstrated that 9% of respondents
rent while 88.4% own their home. This is significantly different from the Oshkosh
Census survey, with 59.6% are homeowners, and 40.4% are renting.
Number of Children – The 2012 City of Oshkosh survey indicated the responses from
the participants revealed 73.8% had no children, 9.7% had 1 child, 11.2% had 2 children,
and 3% had 3 or more children. The Oshkosh Census survey indicated that 72.9% of
Oshkosh’s population, have no children, and 27.1% had one or more children.
Place of Residence – The survey respondents for the 2012 City of Oshkosh survey
33.7% live north of the Fox River, 34.8% lived south of the Fox River and east of
highway 41, and 29.2% lived south of the Fox River and west of highway 41. The
Oshkosh Census survey revealed 56.4% of respondents lived north of the Fox River,
31.6% living south of the Fox River and east of highway 41, and 11.9% live south of the
Fox River and west of highway 41.
Income – Of the polling respondents, the majority of responses were between $25,000
and $74,999 income levels with a total of 51.7%, compared to the 2011 Oshkosh Citizen
Survey with the majority of respondents income level above $50,000. These numbers
correspond with the Oshkosh Census survey.
Employment Status – The respondents to the survey were similar in levels of
employment, except for the unemployment levels. The 2012 City of Oshkosh City
survey revealed 3% of respondents were unemployed compared to the 2011 Oshkosh
City survey in which 5.5% were unemployed.
Occupation – Although some of the figures are within the same range, the areas have
increased in lower increments to lend credibility to the lowering of the unemployment
rate.
Education – The Oshkosh Survey revealed the High School and Associate Degree/Some
College had a higher response to the survey than, the higher educated respondents. In the
2011 Oshkosh City Survey, which the highest response was from the higher level of
educated respondents.
44
Race - Of the survey, participants for the 2011 City of Oshkosh survey 98.4% of these
participants identified as White compared to the Census 88.6% identified as white and
corresponds with the 2011 Oshkosh City Survey at 97.9%.
45
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.
Two-hundred and seventy-five (275) 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.
46
Summary
The citizen survey for the City of Oshkosh resulted in 267 responses from a
randomly selected base of 1500 citizens. This 17.8 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 267 is an increase from the 248 responses in 2011, a decrease from the 338 survey
responses in 2010 and an increase from the 255 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.
47
Appendix A - Internet Surveys
Question 1 How Oshkosh Citizens Feel About Their City Results - Percentages
Excell-
ent
Good
Fair
Poor
No
Opinion
Oshkosh as a place to live? 14.2 78.9 3.6 2.9 .4
Feeling a part of the community? 9.5 76.0 4.4 8.4 1.8
Your neighborhood as a place to live? 26.2 59.6 4.0 8.7 1.5
Oshkosh as a place to raise children? 19.6 66.9 2.5 5.1 5.8
Oshkosh as a place to retire? 10.5 61.5 3.6 16.7 7.6
Community openness and acceptance of diversity? 4.7 66.9 4.0 20.7 3.6
The overall quality of life in Oshkosh? 10.5 79.6 4.0 4.0 1.8
Oshkosh as an environmentally friendly city? 7.3 75.6 3.3 10.5 3.3
Oshkosh as a place to work? 6.9 66.2 5.1 13.5 8.4
The direction Oshkosh is moving for the future? 8.0 66.2 5.1 17.1 3.6
Affordability of living in Oshkosh? 13.5 71.3 4.1 10.2 1.1
Question 2 - Frequently of Utilization of the Following City Services – Percentages
Frequency of City Services Daily Weekly Occasion- Season- Annually
ally ally Or Less
Animal Control 0 .4 6.4 1.5 91.7
Bike and Pedestrian Trails 4.5 18.0 21.0 23.6 33.0
Building Permits and Inspections 0 .4 17.9 2.3 79.5
Community Media 23.6 17.6 30.0 3.4 25.5
City Parking Facilities 4.1 16.9 44.7 3.4 30.8
Emergency Medical and Rescue Services 1.2 0 12.3 1.2 85.4
Enforcement of Property Codes .4 1.9 15.6 1.9 80.2
Fire Protection and Prevention Services 1.1 1.1 5.0 .8 92.0
Lake Shore Golf Course .8 2.7 8.7 9.1 78.8
Land Use, Planning, and Zoning Services 0 .4 6.9 2.7 90.1
Leaf and Brush Pick up 1.1 6.4 18.0 49.2 25.2
Oshkosh Public Museum .4 3.4 38.3 10.6 47.3
Police Services 2.3 2.7 24.5 5.7 64.8
Pollock Aquatic Center .4 3.0 11.0 22.7 62.9
Public Health Programs .8 1.5 12.6 3.8 81.2
Public Library Services 4.9 30.7 36.3 4.5 23.6
Recreation Programs and Classes 1.5 6.2 21.6 9.3 61.4
Recycling Collection Services 11.7 63.0 14.7 1.9 8.7
Refuse Collection Service 9.9 60.1 9.5 3.0 17.5
Response to Citizen Complaints and Requests 1.6 2.3 11.6 5.0 79.5
Senior Services Center 2.7 3.4 10.3 3.1 80.5
Transit System 3.8 3.8 13.3 1.5 77.6
48
Question 3 - Importance of Services – Percentages
Importance of City Services Very Some Some Very No
Import Import Unimport Unimport Opin
Animal Control, Licensing and Regulation 29.1 42.5 12.0 6.5 9.8
Bike and Pedestrian Trails 49.5 31.6 8.4 4.4 6.2
Building Permits and Inspections 36.7 42.5 10.9 2.5 7.3
Community Media 30.5 43.3 13.1 5.5 7.6
City Parking Facilities 30.5 43.6 12.4 6.5 6.9
City Support for Neighborhood Organizations 47.3 28.7 12.0 4.4 7.6
City’s Sidewalk System 62.5 24.4 5.5 1.8 5.8
Economic Development Assistance to Businesses 41.1 36.0 8.7 5.5 8.7
Efforts to Improve the Quality of Housing 49.1 33.8 8.7 1.8 6.5
Emergency Medical and Rescue Services 81.1 11.6 2.5 .4 4.4
Emergency Warning Systems 78.9 13.5 2.5 .7 4.4
Enforcement of Property Maintenance/Nuisance Codes 45.8 33.1 10.5 4.7 5.8
Fire Protection and Prevention Services 82.9 10.5 2.2 .7 3.6
Lake Shore Golf Course 6.5 18.5 26.5 28.0 20.4
Land Use, Planning, and Zoning Services 26.5 39.3 14.9 5.5 13.8
Leaf and Brush Pick up 42.9 39.3 9.5 .7 7.6
Maintenance/Appearance of City Parks & Greenways 58.9 32.4 1.8 1.8 5.1
Maintenance of City-Owned Buildings 49.5 38.5 4.0 2.2 5.8
Oshkosh Public Museum 41.1 34.2 10.9 4.7 9.1
Police Services 82.9 9.8 2.5 .4 4.4
Pollock Aquatic Center 23.3 34.9 19.6 6.9 15.3
Public Health Programs 45.1 32.7 9.5 4.0 8.7
Public Library Services 60.7 25.8 5.8 2.2 5.5
Recreation Programs and Classes 32.4 40.7 14.9 4.4 7.6
Recycling Collection Services 65.8 22.9 5.5 1.1 4.7
Refuse Collection Service 67.3 20.0 4.7 .4 7.6
Regulation and Zoning for Land Use 32.0 35.6 14.2 4.7 13.5
Removal of Snow and Ice From City Streets 83.3 10.9 1.8 0 4.0
Response to Citizen Complaints and Requests 58.2 28.4 5.5 1.8 6.2
Senior Services Center 44.0 34.2 8.0 3.6 10.2
Storm Drainage Systems 67.3 22.9 4.0 1.1 4.7
Street Lighting 61.1 28.4 5.1 1.5 4.0
Street Maintenance and Sweeping 53.1 30.2 10.2 2.2 4.4
Street Repair 78.5 15.3 1.8 .4 4.0
Traffic Signs and Signals 67.6 23.6 2.2 1.5 5.1
Transit System 46.5 28.4 8.7 6.5 9.8
49
Question 4 – Quality of Service – Percentages
Quality of City Services Excellent Good Fair Poor Don’t
Animal Control, Licensing and Regulation 9.1 32.4 14.2 3.6 40.7
Bike and Pedestrian Trails 7.3 49.5 21.8 4.0 17.5
Building Permits and Inspections 3.3 27.6 20.7 7.6 40.7
Community Media 14.5 39.6 24.0 2.2 19.6
City Parking Facilities 4.0 40.4 34.2 4.4 17.1
City Support for Neighborhood Organizations 7.3 28.4 23.3 7.3 33.8
City’s Sidewalk System 7.6 46.9 29.5 6.5 9.5
Economic Development Assistance to Businesses 2.5 24.7 18.5 10.5 43.6
Efforts to Improve the Quality of Housing 1.5 22.2 29.1 12.0 35.3
Emergency Medical and Rescue Services 40.0 32.4 5.8 .4 21.5
Emergency Warning Systems 33.8 43.6 7.6 1.5 13.5
Enforcement of Property Maintenance/Nuisance Codes 8.0 27.3 27.3 9.1 28.4
Fire Protection and Prevention Services 44.4 32.7 4.7 0 18.2
Lake Shore Golf Course 6.5 25.1 10.9 2.2 55.3
Land Use, Planning, and Zoning Services 3.6 26.2 17.1 5.8 47.3
Leaf and Brush Pick up 26.2 47.6 13.5 2.2 10.5
Maintenance/Appearance of City Parks & Greenways 21.5 49.8 18.2 2.9 7.6
Maintenance of City-Owned Buildings 10.2 49.1 20.4 2.9 17.5
Oshkosh Public Museum 32.0 43.3 6.9 1.5 16.4
Police Services 43.6 33.8 9.5 1.1 12.0
Pollock Aquatic Center 25.8 32.4 5.5 .7 35.6
Public Health Programs 11.3 32.0 12.7 1.5 42.5
Public Library Services 45.1 36.0 4.0 1.1 13.8
Recreation Programs and Classes 15.3 37.1 13.1 .7 33.8
Recycling Collection Services 44.7 36.4 8.7 1.1 9.1
Refuse Collection Service 42.9 33.1 9.1 1.8 13.1
Regulation and Zoning for Land Use 5.8 24.7 17.8 3.3 48.4
Removal of Snow and Ice From City Streets 17.1 36.0 26.2 13.8 6.9
Response to Citizen Complaints and Requests 8.4 25.5 21.5 5.8 38.9
Senior Services Center 16.7 31.6 6.5 1.5 43.6
Storm Drainage Systems 6.9 34.5 28.0 13.8 16.7
Street Lighting 13.5 50.5 22.2 6.5 7.3
Street Maintenance and Sweeping 13.1 50.5 20.4 8.0 8.0
Street Repair 7.3 22.9 34.2 27.6 8.0
Traffic Signs and Signals 20.4 48.7 17.5 4.7 8.7
Transit System 14.9 35.6 13.5 2.9 33.1
50
Question 5 - How safe/unsafe you feel in your neighborhood after dark - percentage
Very Safe Safe Neither Unsafe Very Unsafe Don’t Know
24.7 41.1 19.3 10.2 2.9 1.8
Question 6 - Were you/anyone in your household the victim of a crime - percentage
Yes No
12.2 87.8
Question 7 - If “Yes”, did you report all of these crimes - percentage
Yes No
69.8 30.2
Question 8 & 9 - Budgeting Priorities - Dollars
Extra $1
million
Reduce $1
million
Net
Increase or
(Decrease)
Community Services 102,670 (109,427) (1,996)
Economic Development 127,526 (156,354) (9,635)
Refuse and Recycling 43,144 (88,333) (15,675)
Finance and Administration 26,082 (277,344) (87,938)
Police Protection 149,680 (54,844) 33,773
Fire Suppression/ Prevention 90,258 (42,656) 17,007
Parks 78,918 (122,093) (14,839)
Storm Water Maintenance 140,701 (81,880) 19,297
Road Maintenance 241,031 (67,068) 60,005
Question 10 – Funding of City Services – Percentages
Strongly
Agree
Somewhat
Agree
Neither
Agree/
Disagree
Somewhat
Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
The City could reduce taxes and
maintain current services by being
more efficient.
42.5 27.5 13.3 6.7 10.0
The City should focus on reducing
taxes by pursuing grants (many of
which require local funding match)
35.9 40.2 10.3 5.1 8.5
The City should focus on reducing
taxes by increasing service fees and
charges.
6.8 20.3 15.3 17.8 39.8
I will support increase in taxes it would
maintain/increase the services I value.
25.0 25.0 9.5 14.7 25.9
51
Question 11 - To what degree are run down buildings, weed lots or junk vehicles a
problem in Oshkosh?
Not a Problem Minor Problem Moderate Problem Major Problem Don’t Know
3.4 34.5 41.2 17.6 3.4
Question 13 – Analysis of Survey Results to Demographics of City
Survey Survey Oshkosh Without
Results % Census Institution
Gender Male 42 34.4 51.3
Female 80 65.6 48.7
Missing 153
Year Born 18 to 60 88 75.9 78.0 74.6
Over 60 28 24.1 22.0 25.4
Missing 159
Marital Status Married 69 64.5 37.9 43.7
Not Married 34 31.8 55.9 49.1
Widowed 4 3.7 6.2 7.2
Missing 169
Rent or Own Own 90 84.1 59.6
Rent 17 15.9 40.4
Missing 169
Number of None 14 13.0 72.9
Children 1 4 3.7 27.1
2 3 2.8
3 or More 87 80.6
Missing 167
Place of North of Fox 48 44.4 56.4 50.8
Residence South of Fox/East of 41 34 31.5 31.6 35.7
South of Fox/West of 41 26 24.1 11.9 13.5
Missing 167
Income Under 24,999 12 11.5 28.0
25k to 49,999 22 21.2 29.3
50k to 74,999 29 27.9 21.0
75k to 99,999 24 23.1 11.2
Over 100k 17 16.3 10.5
Missing 172
Employment Employed Full Time 71 66.4
Status Employed Part Time 8 7.5
Self Employed 5 4.7
Presently Unemployed 4 3.7 5.9
Student 4 3.7
Retired 15 14.0
Missing 168
Occupation Homemaker 4 4.4 3.2
Service Occupations 15 16.5 22.2
Sales 10 11.0 26.3
Education 12 13.2 6.3
Professional Management 28 30.8 21.1
Farming, Fishing, or Forestry 0 0 0
52
Construction, Maintenance 3 3.3 4.4
Production/Transportation 9 9.9 19.1
Other 10 11.0 .2
Missing 184
Education Less than HS 0 0 13.3
HS/GED 20 18.5 56.2
Associates/Some College 30 27.8 7.1
Bachelors 32 29.6 16.5
Masters or higher 26 24.1 7.0
Missing 167
Race White 100 95.2 88.6
Native Hawaiian 0 0 0
Hispanic or Latino 0 0 2.5
Asian 0 0 3.4
African-American 0 0 2.9
American Indian 0 0 .5
Two or More Races 4 3.8 .0
Other 1 1.0 .0
Missing 170