Oshkosh staff propose tiered code-enforcement priorities, changes to SeeClickFix and public reporting

Oshkosh City staff on Wednesday recommended a formal, tiered approach to code enforcement aimed at prioritizing life-safety issues and reducing staff time spent on lower-priority complaints submitted through SeeClickFix.

The recommendation, presented by Sarah (Community Development staff lead), would categorize complaints into three tiers: immediate life-safety hazards (tier 1), issues that could lead to damage or safety concerns if untreated (tier 2), and lower-priority quality-of-life or minor zoning matters (tier 3). Sarah told the council, "Code enforcement is a balance. It's not as simple as this is the code, you're breaking the code, you're in violation, therefore, we're taking you to court." She said the goal is to focus limited staff resources on higher-impact problems while improving communication and transparency.

Why it matters: Staff reported heavy use of SeeClickFix for resident complaints and argued the current reactive process consumes substantial time. From July 1, 2024, to July 1, 2025, staff said the city logged about 2,700 SeeClickFix reports (an average of roughly 230 per month) and an average of 12 days to close cases. The most common SeeClickFix categories cited were…