Municipalities are not required by law to maintain websites. They come with a cost, they need to be maintained and they require a certain amount of in-house computer savvy to keep current.

Nevertheless, good websites should be part of every municipal package because their value to taxpayers is well worth the effort.

Several area municipalities took that seriously after receiving a failing grade last November when the Empire Center for Public Policy released a SeeThroughNY Website Report Card on municipal websites. The center examined 500 websites for contact information, spending date, labor contracts and public meeting records, and the ease of locating those items, and graded them accordingly.

Utica scored a 56 — an “F”. The Town of New Hartford did worse than that, scoring a 41. Meanwhile, Little Falls in Herkimer County wasn’t even rated. At the time, a city official said a volunteer had started the website, but left and there was no one to maintain it.

What a difference four months can make. Since the failing grade, Utica has revamped its site, making it much more user-friendly — a team effort by the Common Council, Mayor’s Office and the Comptroller’s Office. Not only is the site more attractive and easier to navigate, but it will also afford taxpayers the opportunity to pay their county, school, city and water and sewer taxes through the website.

A big plus, too, is that the website can be translated into approximately 90 languages — a real progressive step in a city as diverse as Utica.

Utica wasn’t the only one making improvements. The city of Little Falls didn’t get any points on the November report card in the categories of public information, budgets, financial reports, contracts, taxes and fees, expenditures, and facilities and services. Since, site design and management have been taken over by an outside source, says Patty Skalarz, deputy city clerk, and the site has been vastly improved.

Both Utica and Little Falls sites are topped with a panoramic view of each respective city. Utica’s is a photograph, while the Little Falls site features a watercolor by local artist Bob Wilman.

The Town of New Hartford is also in the midst of making improvements to its web page, says Town Supervisor Patrick Tyksinski. Town Councilman Paul Miscione said last November that the site wasn’t very user-friendly and “doesn’t give (residents) anything they can actually use and it’s very hard to navigate because it has no structure.”

That will soon be changing, Tyksinski said, who agreed that there was a lot of information presented that wasn’t very well organized.

Municipalities do their constituents a great public service by maintaining up-to-date, user-friendly websites and should make them a priority in the ongoing effort to increase government transparency. They can be a terrific tool for providing information and a great resource for taxpayers who want to stay in touch with their government on a regular basis. Use them.

© 2015 Utica Observer-Dispatch