Grant money from the Local E-Government Utilization Program, or LEG-UP, will allow the two governments to expand Web site capabilities.
In January, the town of Boiling Springs rolled out its new Web site, www.boilingspringsnc.net. The site is powered by GovOffice, which creates Web sites for local governments. Before then, the town used a free Web site powered by Yahoo!, an Internet search provider, according to Town Manager Brian Alligood. Pop-up advertisements were frequent on the old site, he said, adding that the new Web site is “a lot more professional.”
The LEG-UP grant will pay for software upgrades to allow transaction payments online, he said. Several residents have expressed they would like the online option, Alligood said.
It could cost $5,000 to implement the new function, he said.
Town commissioners have said they are committed to adding the function.
The amount of money Boiling Springs and Cleveland County will receive will be determined after a plan of action has been developed for them, according to Jane Patterson, a spokeswoman for LEG-UP.
The average local government that received money in the first phase of the program gets $14,000, with award amounts ranging between $8,000 and $24,000.
It will probably be fall before things are up and running, said Alligood, after town officials have had training to ensure they can maintain the site. It is a stipulation of the grant.
The possibility of paying taxes online with a credit card or submitting applications for building inspections are among the functions Cleveland County is considering exploring with its grant money.
Marty Gold, the information services director for Cleveland County, said he hopes the grant will cover the price of the computers and Web development. The county’s Web site, www.clevelandcounty.com has been revised several times since it went online in the early 1990s, he said.
Interactive parts of the site include looking at deeds and property tax information.
The next step for the county is to have vendors submit estimates on how much the upgrade would cost, Gold said.
Boiling Springs and Cleveland County learned of their grant awards in mid-March.
On the Web: www.e-nc.org.
Quelle: Shelby Star, 03.04.2004
