Cass County has new website
Posted By J.T. on June 6, 2009
Harrisonville, Missouri - Continuing fast-paced changes, the County Commission has announced the unveiling of the new website for Cass County - www.casscounty.com
Associate Commissioner Brian Baker has been working with the Cass County Technology Task Force to examine the counties technology needs and online presence. In February that task force began discussions on how to improve the site.
The task force made several recommendations, including recommending that Cass County completely re-construct the site and provide more accessible information to citizens. They also encouraged the county to make sure current office holders and departments have web-pages that provide office descriptions and clear contact information.
“The focus was to make the site more ‘user’ friendly and clearly define the duties of the various offices,” stated Baker. “We also are working to put documents, permits, and form applications online so that citizens can print needed materials at home. That is just a sample of what we hope to offer.”
Departments will have their own web-pages and descriptions as well. Baker stated that a few pages are still under-construction and information is being added daily. “The office-holder’s pages and links are up. Two of the offices that receive the most contacts are the Assessor and Collector. We focused on getting those sites up and all the information online for citizens. Department contacts are up and we will be adding more information and access points in the coming months.” Baker also stated that future improvements, like creating a content-management-plan for continuing site updates was in the works.
Baker also noted that there is a focus to promote the county as a whole. “We have a clearly identified CITIES page that allows citizens to go to view every city in the county that has a website. You can link to those city sites for information. We also included our school districts. We know that one of the reasons people move to Cass is because of our schools, and we want to promote them.”
Other links include University of Missouri Extension; Sheriff’s Website; Codes Department; Economic Development; Health Department; Planning and Zoning; Boards and Commissions; and several others.
The Technology Task Force is also reviewing ways it can offer new information to citizens. The task force is made up of IT professionals who live in Cass County. They recently met to review some ideas on how to offer information on issues like roads. They are also talking about how to create a “user” friendly way to pay taxes online and maintain security.
“Commissioner Cook has this great idea of entering our road data into a server and making that data available to the citizens via the web,” commented Baker. “The idea is that a citizen will be able to pull up their road, see the history of that road…what projects have been done and how much it cost for that improvement.” Baker noted that this is a long-term goal, but very attainable. “We already have our road department entering data so when we can move forward once the framework is established.”
The Commission is also encouraging citizens to sign up for the Cass County Information Subscription. Citizens can go to www.casscounty.com and sign up to receive updates via email. “Cass County is open for business,” stated Baker. “We invite everyone to visit us. Our doors are open and we want to know how we can serve the citizens better. How may we help you today?”
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