The Moffat County commissioners authorized paying for upgrades to the Assessor’s Office Web site last week, a move they say will allow residents easier access to information.

The current Web site, which county officials said is limited, offers a directory of only telephone numbers.

“It’s just general information, none of the assessor’s property data,” County Assessor Suzanne Brinks said.

The Web site, which is being developed by Value Check, will cost $8,500 to create. Other costs are $100 for maintenance, updating and hosting per month for one year, and $200 a month for monitoring after that, Brinks said.

Brinks said the Assessor’s Office will review the Web site in 45 days. She said she hopes the Web site will be working before September.

Brinks said that as it stands, the Assessor’s Office answers questions that the Web site should be able to.

“People ask for property characteristics, like the square footage, year built, and the bed-and-bath count,” she said.

The Web site will have a feature that will allow visitors to search the database by different parameters, such as the property owner’s name or the address of the property.

Brinks said the Web site will help the Assessor’s Office by cutting down on the number of phone calls the office receives.

“Our office is pretty busy year-round. Sometimes, the phone is constantly ringing,” she said.

Brinks added that Realtors and appraisers will benefit the most from the new Web site.

Lorrie Elliot, an appraiser from Steamboat Springs, said she is looking forward to the new Web site.

She said it will save her a lot of time driving to Craig.

Georgina McAnally, owner of American Northwest Realty, said her business is excited about the Web site.

“We have been waiting for years for this to happen,” she said. “We hope they can get it up as soon as possible.”

McAnally said that someone from her office visits the courthouse at least once a day for the same kind of information that will be available on the Web site.

She added that the Web site will be beneficial for the homeowners.

“Once they know the information is out there, the public will (use the Web site) too,” McAnally said. “Most of their inquiries are about ownership of property.”

Brinks said she gets a lot of calls from the public about “who owns what properties.”