Politics & Government

Ramey’s Municipal Website Named 84th Best in NJ

Local lawmakers say they are happy with the rank, and want to work to improve it

A new Monmouth University study has ranked the borough’s municipal website as the 84th best in the state, putting in the top 16% of all municipal websites.

At a borough council meeting Monday, Council President Ken Tyburczy said he was very pleased with the ranking.

“I want to congratulate the team [at borough hall] that keeps the community informed.”

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The project evaluated each website based on 86 content items in 2012, including information for citizens, interaction, social networking and more.

The "ease of use" category scored whether the mayor's contact information was available, if a building permit form was posted online, if the municipal budget was present, as well as trash/recycling information. The quicker it took to find the information, the higher the municipality scored on the "ease of use" category.

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“Websites are probably the single most important tool for citizens to find local information,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. “According to a poll we conducted in 2011, Garden State residents are far more likely to visit a municipal website than to call or write a town official.”

Tyburczy said he is anxious to use the study as inspiration to make the municipal site even better.

“Anything we can do to increase our standings is something I’m going to look into further,” he said.

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