Livingston's Website Top 25 in New Jersey, Says University Poll

Livingston's website was recently ranked among the top 25 best municipal websites in New Jersey by Monmouth University Polling Institute.

The university's polling institute determined the township's municipal website was among the easiest to use among the 540 evaluated in the state. Livingston was ranked 23rd overall, the second highest of any municipality in Essex County. (Montclair was ranked 19th). 

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.

The value of municipal websites is high these days, according to the pollsters.

“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.”

-- James Kleimann