On January 27, our town council held a day-long public meeting to hear an update from Town Manger Marc Orlando on progress made to date on the Fiscal Year 2026-28 Strategic Action Plan that we adopted this past June. As a reminder, our planning and budget cycles align with the state of South Carolina’s fiscal year, which is defined as July 1-June 30. We also had a robust discussion on what to prioritize in the capital improvement program budget for fiscal year 2027, which will be here before we know it.
If you missed it, I encourage you to watch a recording of the discussion on the town’s YouTube channel.
One of the highlights of the meeting was a report on the town’s new website launch that took a digital tour through some of the upgrades. The team has worked hard to make things easier on website users, to incorporate new tools, and importantly, provide enhanced transparency for the community as we continue to implement the strategic action plan. How? I’m so glad you asked.
Making things easier involved improvements to customer service delivery, our online forms, and the completeness of answers available through the website now vs. in the past. The new site meets standards as set forth in the Americans with Disabilities Act and includes Spanish translation so that we continue to ensure that everyone has equal access to town information and services.
Not to be left behind at this stage of the 21st century, the site now includes an AI-powered chat bot feature for 24/7 assistance. This new tool helps our users get answers to common questions quickly, reduces the need for phone calls when appropriate, and will improve customer service without having to add more staff.
Finally, Orlando and the web team are going to great lengths to enhance transparency and improve public trust through easy access to performance data, meetings, documents, and services, including the launch of performance dashboards. The goal of these dashboards is to demonstrate real-time progress regarding the town’s strategies, capital projects, our budget, and the services we provide.
Ask just about any elected official or staff member in any municipality, anywhere, at any time, what’s one thing they wish for and I bet you’d hear a similar refrain: “I wish people in the community understood all that we’re doing, and just how much is really being accomplished.” Ask a similar question of our families, friends, neighbors, and business colleagues and you’d probably hear something like, “I just wish it was easier to understand what’s going on and where I can find more information.”
Combined with our social media, e-subscription service, our work with the local news media and our MyHHI app, this new website and its enhanced functionality intend to grant that wish for the Hilton Head Island community and those who serve it.