There is plenty of room for improvement across Upstate New York when it comes to the online services local governments provide.

When the Empire Center for Public Policy issued its SeeThroughNY Local Government Website Report Card a year ago, Utica, Syracuse, Albany and Buffalo all received Fs, while Rochester fared only slightly better with a D.

Since that time, Utica has overhauled its website in an effort to make it more user friendly by adding the ability to pay taxes online and prominently displaying where people can report issues and see government documents.

“The primary goals were that it was clean and easy to navigate with all the important information upfront … and that it was optimized for mobile users,” said Utica I.T. Project Manager Frank M. Mutolo. “To this point, it has exceeded our expectations.”

Mutolo said that the city is exploring ways to add new features that can allow for more of the online payment options that are pretty much standard on the sites of the other major upstate cities such as paying tickets, judgments and water bills.

But when visiting those other sites it’s clear that Utica is holding its own with its larger counterparts, and actually is exceeding most of them when it comes to social media.

While Utica doesn’t have a Facebook page strictly dedicated to the city, it does maintain pages for Mayor Robert Palmieri and the Urban Renewal Agency, and it has its own Twitter account and one for Palmieri, all of which have more likes and followers than those associated with Syracuse, Albany and Buffalo.

With more than 9,000 tweets, Utica’s Twitter account also has been more active than any other upstate city.

Only Rochester — which has more than 29,000 Twitter followers, more than 12,000 likes on Facebook, an Instagram account, an active YouTube channel and unveiled a new website of its own just last week — appears to be outpacing Utica at this point.

Rochester Press Officer Jessica Alaimo said the city has made a big push to improve its online services and make it a main priority.

“We’re using social media to show the great things we are accomplishing and getting incredible feedback from it,” said Alaimo, who points to its recent #ROCtogether Twitter campaign that has helped to heal the city in the aftermath of a mass shooting that occurred in August. “It’s a great way to reach the public directly and to engage them in a meaningful conversation.”

© 2015 Utica Observer-Dispatch