As the countdown to the new millennium gets closer to zero, Kosciusko County government is taking steps to becoming an on-line entity.

By the end of the year, several county departments could have their Web sites up and running, providing information to area residents. The Veterans Service office already has information posted on the Internet.

Auditor-elect Sue Ann Mitchell said she first heard of the no-cost program at a conference. The program, funded by the state but operated by indico.net, appealed to Mitchell and she thought it could benefit the county.

"It's trying to get government entities aware of the Internet," she said. As long as Kosciusko County wants indico.net to operate the Web site, there will be no cost to the county.

"Right now, they're providing a server," Mitchell said.

A representative from indico.net, Darcie Dudeck Webster, recently came to the county for two days to train employees of the county departments interested in the program. "Just the very, very basics of how to write things and put them up on a Web site," Mitchell said of what was taught.

She said it is a win-win situation. County residents win, she said, because they will have access to various county department information 24 hours a day via the Internet. The county will win, she said, because if area residents can get the information from the Internet, there will be no need for them to contact the offices directly, saving time for all involved.

"If we put information on the Internet and a person can get that information off the Internet, it will save that person from having to call us," she said.

According to Mitchell, the Evansville county assessor reported their Web site had 90,000 hits. If only 10 percent of those hits were phone calls, the county was saved 9,000 calls.

"She saw that as a real plus," Mitchell said.

The county departments are 100 percent cooperating and willing to begin the new era of information. "Each one of the offices has a real good feel for it," Mitchell said.

The departments who have expressed an interest in putting Web sites up include: Area Plan Commission, auditor, CASA, clerk, county commissioners, county council, assessor, highway department, courts, Extension office, GIS, maintenance, probation, prosecutor, child support enforcement, recorder, sheriff, soil and water, solid waste, surveyor, systems administrator, township assessors, trustees and work release. Others to be included are towns, libraries and conservancies.

While indico.net is helping the county get started, Mitchell said, people in each office will want to eventually maintain the sites themselves. And the departments will have to continuously update the information so as to not be misleading or give inaccurate information to the public as government changes, she said.

"We're seeing this as creating a team spirit within the courthouse," Mitchell said, because many of the county employees took the training course together and can help one another out if there are problems. "The more we know about each other's offices, the better we can be as public servants."

There is no specific target date as to when the county's Web site will be completed. Their address, however, will be www.indico.net/counties/kosciusko/government/county.html.

Besides providing information, the site will eventually also provide a way for the public to get in contact with the various departments.

Mitchell said that as the site grows and new items are added, the county may want to buy its own server, though that may not be in the near future.

"I'm amazed at the enthusiasm and the way people have received this program," she said. [[In-content Ad]]