CPEC Municipal Website Analysis

Executive Summary


CPEC examined how Connecticut towns and cities use the Internet during the summer of 2003. We focused on two areas of website content: 1) information that helps residents participate in local government decision-making (for example, contact information for elected officials and meeting agendas); and 2) services that help residents accomplish something without a trip or phone call to town/city hall (for example, print registration forms for parks and recreation programs).

Connecticut local governments' use of websites is about what one might expect based on national reviews of city websites. There is no national report directly comparable to CPEC's inventory, and other studies review only the nation's largest cities that are much larger in population and total budget. Keeping in mind that 74 Connecticut towns have fewer than 10,000 residents, Connecticut local government use of their websites is on par with the national experience.

CPEC staff developed a list of more than 30 potential items, assigned a point value to each item, and inventoried all local government websites to develop a "score." This score is not meant to be a value judgment or grading system similar to that used in schools. CPEC developed this inventory so that local governments can easily see what other communities are doing and determine if expanding their website is appropriate given their local circumstances.

In both categories - citizen participation information and online services - CPEC divided web content into two levels: "basic" and "advanced." As expected, most local government websites provide the basic items, while the level of usage of the advanced items varies greatly.

Basic civic participation information such as the name of the chief elected official (94%), names of the other elected officials (82%) and the regular meeting schedule (79%) were found on the vast majority of the sites. Contact information and specific meeting agendas that would help residents communicate with local officials was less common. The phone number (73%) and the email address (49%) of the chief elected official (for example, Mayor or First Selectman) were widely available, but similar contact information for other elected officials (phone number 29%, email address 19%) was not.

Agendas for current meetings of the municipal legislative body (council or selectmen) were found on 23% of sites, while previous meeting minutes were on 36% of sites. Municipal budgets were found on 32% and town charters or ordinances were on 41% of sites.

Most local government websites (92%) also provide the basic tool of access to municipal services: the phone numbers for the departments most often involved in delivering services directly to residents (Parks and Recreation, Public Works, Planning and Zoning, etc.). Email addresses for these departments was less prevalent as 37% of the websites provided an email address for at least three of six designated departments.

CPEC also found widespread use of websites to provide electronic versions of forms that residents might need to fill out. Parks and recreation program enrollment forms were found on 35% of sites, zoning forms on 21%, and town clerk's office forms on 20% of sites. Parks and recreations program information was available on 46% of sites and zoning regulations were found on 32% of sites.

More complicated services were far less prevalent. Only 5% of sites allowed residents to register online for park and recreation programs; 15% enable online payment of taxes; and 3% permit residents to request town services using an online form.

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