New Jersey is home to some of the largest and most diverse municipalities in the United States. From the bustling metropolis of Newark, to the picturesque beach towns on its coastline, New Jersey offers something for everyone.
This article gives our ranking of the of the websites of the 10 largest municipalities in New Jersey. We made a quick review of each website’s features, services, and contact information with the perspective of a citizen looking for information about their municipality.
Some criteria we looked at:
- Ease To Pay Taxes
- Find Local Community Events
- Find Your Local Representative Or Council Person
1. Newark (318,431) Population
The Newark site is modern easy to navigate with a clean site design.
Ease To Pay Taxes
It was easy to get to the tax page but opens to another tax site and strands you there. Would be better if it opened to a new window
Find Local Community Events
The events calendar was easy to find but there was no events showing
Find Your Local Representative or Council Person
Easy to navigate to Mayor and Council
2. Lakewood (72,516) Population
Very clean site. All the colors go together. Transitions are nice. I wish they had different thumbs in the events on the homepage.
Ease To Pay Taxes
Easy to navigate and pay tax payments button on home page.
Find Local Community Events
Events calendar on the home page.
Find Your Local Representative or Council Person
Easy to find under elected officials tab
3. Jersey City (301,419) Population
Jersey City has a nice site the name is a little difficult to read on the header. Solid site overall. The fact that it has a language selector shows the respect for the diversity in the city.
Ease To Pay Taxes
Tax page is a little buried at the bottom of the City Hall menu. Opens to another tax site and strands you there. Would be better if it opened to a new window
Find Local Community Events
Calendar opens to a new page and is clean color coded and populated. Events are featured on homepage for easy access.
Find Your Local Representative or Council Person
Easy to find and navigate to the Mayor and Council
4. Paterson (162,438) Population
Paterson has a clean site overall. I like the dark blue color on the header. The header images are beautiful but are too tall and just the easy link buttons below the fold on my browser. The green on the interior pages doesn’t really match the overall scheme.
Ease To Pay Taxes
Pay Bills button is helpful but doesn’t really specify taxes. But pretty easy to navigate to pay your taxes. Opens to a new window which is helpful.
Find Local Community Events
Calendar opens to a new page and is clean color coded and populated. Events are featured on homepage for easy access.
Find Your Local Representative or Council Person
Easy to find and navigate to the Mayor and Council
5. Bayonne (73,418) Population
Very nicely designed site. All the colors go together. Easy to navigate. Information is clear and concise.
Ease To Pay Taxes
Easy to navigate and pay taxes under online bill pay button.Not really finding it
Find Local Community Events
Nice color coded calendar and blog on homepage to highlight events
Find Your Local Representative or Council Person
Easy to find under elected officials tab
6. Elizabeth (139,764) Population
Many of the Local Government sites are template sites by Civic Plus. They seem decent. have all the tools. Many of them look the same . Some are more customized than others
Ease To Pay Taxes
Easy to navigate and pay taxes
Find Local Community Events
Events and Event Calendar are highlighted on the homepage if you scroll down.
Find Your Local Representative or Council Person
Easy to find and navigate to the Mayor and Council
7. Toms River (93,638) Population
Many of the Local Government sites are template sites by Civic Plus. They seem decent. have all the tools. Many of them look the same . The header image is too large and you have to scroll to see the buttons.
Ease To Pay Taxes
Easy to navigate and pay taxes under online payments button on homepage or services tab in navigation
Find Local Community Events
Not finding any local events on this website
Find Your Local Representative or Council Person
Find the links under the Government tab
8. Trenton (92,063) Population
Header Image is huge. Not really easy to navigate. Spotlight section on homepage is good for highlighting current events. Another template site by Civic Plus
Ease To Pay Taxes
Easy to navigate and pay taxes under online bill pay button.Not really finding it
Find Local Community Events
Calendar on Homepage
Find Your Local Representative or Council Person
Find the links under the Government tab
9. Passaic (70,689) Population
One of the best designs out of the Civic Plus sites in this list in my opinion. Good graphics and color schemes.
Ease To Pay Taxes
Easy to navigate and pay tax payments button on home page.
Find Local Community Events
Events section on homepage leads to clean events calendar
Find Your Local Representative or Council Person
Mayor is easy to find but not finding the city council
10. Clifton (91,528) Population
Header Image is huge. Not really liking the slider in the header. Also currently a missing image in slider. Template site by Civic Plus
Ease To Pay Taxes
Easy to navigate and pay taxes under online bill pay button. Not really finding it
Find Local Community Events
alendar on Homepage but had to scroll towards bottom of the page.
Find Your Local Representative or Council Person
Find the links under the Government tab
New Jersey’s Largest Municipalities for the most part are using the same framework which is good in some aspects. It is probably cost efficient, has all the necessary tools etc., But there are also drawbacks, All the sites look the same, and some are better implemented than others.
I wonder who is getting the fees from the online payment gateway? At least most of the sites are navigational and functional. It probably comes down to how responsive and proficient the staff at the city are at updating and maintaining the site.