NBC29Albemarle County Set to Launch New Website

Albemarle County Set to Launch New Website

Albemarle County is gearing up to launch its brand new website. It's a $30,000 project that's raising a few eyebrows, especially with the county's well-documented budget problems. The county tells NBC29 that the new website is a worthwhile investment.

It's supposed to be more interactive and easier for people to navigate, and a thing of convenience for an increasingly internet-savvy population.

"It allows us to save employee time. It allows us to increase employee productivity. It provides citizens with convenient access and allows them to self-serve for a lot of government services," says Albemarle County Spokeswoman Lee Catlin.

"It makes it easier for our constituents to come see us, but they're seeing us in a virtual environment rather than having to drive down, saving themselves gas and time and doing things through the internet rather than having them come to the office," says Albemarle County Director of Information Technology Mike Culp.

The new $30,000 dollar site has prompted questions about priorities. For example, if just one person is laid off, could that money have helped save a job?

"It's really important to realize that this is not a choice between saving an employee job and making an investment in the website," Lee Catlin says. "A one time investment in technology for productivity and to achieve savings is very different than funding an employee position, which has ongoing year after year expenses, salary, healthcare, retirement benefits, other associated costs. so there's really not a comparison between the two," Catlin added.

Funding for the site was budgeted last year, and about half of it has been spent. Most of the money that's been spent already has gone towards the design work that's being done by a Northern Virginia consultant.

In the five years since the site's last major overhaul, the number of average daily visits has nearly quadrupled.

"There are a lot of emerging technologies that we haven't been able to take advantage of. A lot of things citizens have told us they'd really like to be able to do on the website that we haven't been able to accommodate," says Catlin.

Albemarle also spent another $5,000 to buy a new web server in preparation for the overhaul.

The new site should go live in late November or early December.

Reported by Tracy Clemons
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