The Chilton County Commission’s realization that the county website should be improved was the first step toward improving it.

The commission took that step at its meeting Monday when it tabled a decision about renewing a contract with Racon Marketing Group for maintenance of the site, chiltoncounty.org.

We hope the commission doesn’t stop here.

The website could be, and should be, a valuable resource for county residents looking for information about taxes and police business, among other subjects. Instead, the site has become stale: the information contained on it rarely changes and is often out of date.

If people don’t see the site as worthwhile, they won’t use it, and that makes paying $150 a month for the site a waste of money.

The contract coming up for renewal is an opportunity for the commission to provide a better service to the county. The commission should request Racon demonstrate what it will do to improve the site over the coming months. If Racon can’t provide a plan, the commission should look elsewhere.

As people come to rely more and more on obtaining information online, Chilton County should have a website that meets its needs. The current site does not do so, but the commission has a chance now to do something about that.