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state of the county
A New-Look County Website Filled With New Features Marion County has launched a brand-new website, MarionFL.org BY ALEX AUBUCHON
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ounty staff have spent months redesigning the site from the ground up with a focus on customer service and accessibility, offering improved functionality while still maintaining access to all of Marion County’s government services and information. “You’ll find the features Marion County residents use most often front and center,” said Commissioner Carl Zalak while unveiling the site at a Board of County Commissioners meeting. “Things like paying a utility bill, applying for a building permit, adopting a pet, finding a park, or watching our commission meetings can be done with one click of a button.” “The new website also features a responsive design where the website will automatically resize to the screen on smartphones and tablets while still retaining all the features and functionality,” said Information Technology Director Tom Northey on a recent episode of the Marion Minute podcast. This makes the new website much easier to navigate no matter what sort of device one is viewing. Website visitors will enjoy a streamlined experience featuring large, clickable buttons, improved search functionality and ADA accessibility. In addition to our new website, Marion County has rolled out a new interactive map featuring a wide variety of geographic information system (GIS) layers. These can each be toggled on or off and can answer simple
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| APR 2021 | OCALAMAGAZINE.COM
questions such as “Who is my county commissioner?” or “Where is the nearest library, park, or fire station?” as well as complex questions like “What areas of the county are most prone to flooding?” or “How exactly are properties near me zoned?” Accurate and functional GIS maps are crucial for our own road planning and growth services departments, but everyone can find some benefit with the layers we have available – like where our recycling centers, fire stations, and libraries are located or where Marion County water and sewer services are available. The new website is live and fully functional at MarionFL.org.
One quick note – if you have any bookmarks to a marioncountyfl.org address, please update it! We’ll redirect it for now, but soon all our web content will live exclusively at MarionFL.org. Similarly, county employees’ email addresses have shifted to [firstname.lastname]@marionfl.org. This change to a shorter URL for web addresses and emails will lead to greater efficiency – after all, it’s less to type! We hope you enjoy the newly redesigned website and all the features it has to offer! Alex AuBuchon is the Public Information Officer for the Marion County Board of Commissioners.
