If all goes well, the City of Port Orchard soon will be sporting a new website that citizens should find more user-friendly and resourceful.

Mayor Rob Putaansuu said that a new test site will be launched next week. Should the testing pass muster, he said the new site will be rolled out by the end of this month.

The website software the city will be using is subscription-based and designed for small cities. The city government supplies the content and the company that designed and hosts the website, Proud City, is responsible for development and security, and keeping it updated and relevant.

Putaansuu said the current city website is showing its age and is not keeping up with the functionality it needs to operate successfully. “Right now, if we get hacked, we’re responsible for the repairs,” he said.

The mayor said he found out about the new website solution while attending a recent national conference. He noted that subscription-based software is a growing trend, not only for small government agencies but with the general public. Microsoft began offering subscription-based software about two years ago when it introduced Microsoft 365, its productivity suite, to the general public.

The city similarly is subscribing to the software platform and will pay a monthly fee of $111, or $1,337 yearly.

Putaansuu said the costs are minimal, or “about a penny per citizen per month,” considering it otherwise could cost the city $40,000 to design its own new website.

He said a city typically will budget for a large, one-time website purchase, which includes a long-term design process and contract, which excludes any external input.

Specifications for the site are based on requirements determined a year or more before a vendor is selected, making the new website dated before development even begins, he said.

According to the software developer, once that custom website is finally launched, any changes made going forward are incremental at best, because the city is unable to afford the costs to upgrade it.

Putaansuu said rapidly evolving software technology advances make it difficult for government entities like Port Orchard to keep up.

The website will feature the same functions but will have greater graphical flexibility and the ability to add more departmental pages and content.

Feedback from citizens who access the test site will be used by city web focals to fine-tune the end product.