Portage County, WI Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Sec. 4.5 gives the Portage County Health and Human Services Board authority under Wis. Stats. §§ 46.23 and 251.04 to protect public health against 'human health hazards,' defined in Sec. 4.5.3(5) as any substance, activity or condition known to have the potential to cause acute or chronic illness or death if not abated. Sec. 4.5.6 lists specific hazards if determined by the Health Officer to meet that definition, and Sec. 4.5.6(5) puts housing that is dilapidated, unsafe or unsanitary on that list. Sec. 4.5.4 makes it the property owner's responsibility to keep the property hazard-free and to abate or correct any hazard the Health Officer determines exists, and Sec.

4.5.5 bars anyone from erecting, causing, continuing or maintaining a human health hazard anywhere in Portage County, applying under Sec. 4.5.2 to every municipality in the county. Enforcement starts with an investigation by the Health Officer under Sec. 4.5.7; if a hazard is confirmed, Sec. 4.5.8(1) requires a written abatement order specifying the corrective action, the compliance deadline, the penalty for noncompliance and the right to appeal. If the hazard poses an immediate danger to health, or the responsible person ignores the order's deadline, Sec.

4.5.8(2) lets the county or local government abate the hazard itself and recover the cost from the owner directly or as a special assessment against the property under Wis. Stats. ch. 254.59. Appeals of a Department order go through the county's Wis. Stats. ch. 68 appeal procedure under Sec. 4.5.10.