Most agreed a new Broome County website was necessary, especially following a survey that gave the old site a failing grade last year. But now there's controversy over whether or not the new website was worth the price tag. Emily Lorsch was at the unveiling Tuesday and shares what the new site has to offer, as well as why some are disappointed.
The last time the Broome County website was updated was in 2008.
"It's been seven years since this website has been updated. That's a long time. It was just barbaric, it was outdated," said Broome County Executive Debbie Preston.
County leaders said the site now has a more modern look, additional information, and is easier for departments to update and citizens to navigate.
"The search ability is great. It was not there before. If you were looking for a procurement document you would have had, there were small search features but you would have had to leaf through things to figure it out. It's much better now," said Broome County Legislator Jason Shaw.
Residents used to have to print out their forms online and bring them on in to the county office building, but now they can use an easy format where they just submit their new information right through the website.
"I know as a resident myself there are times I want to submit a form and I don't want to come down here," said Shaw.
"I'm glad that we now have the ability to fill out forms online but I would say is that something that we had to pay $30,000 for?" said Broome County Legislator Jason Garnar.
Garnar said considering the amount of money spent on the new site, he is very disappointed.
"It doesn't look any easier to use than our previous website. I think we could have done this in house. We have an IT department," said Garnar.
And not seeing enough improvements is not the only reason the new website upsets him. He said there's an alarming link on the site's homepage.
"Taxpayers don't want to spend $30,000 to promote the county executive's political Facebook. It's not something that should be anywhere on the website. I hope it's removed as soon as possible," he said.
The county executive said she expects criticism, and is open to suggestions for the website moving forward.
“Input from people with clear political agendas is of little value. We do however value the input we’ve received thus far from the general public and plan to incorporate the best suggestions as we continue to improve the County’s web presence,” Deputy County Executive John Bernardo said, in response to Garnar's concerns about the new website.