The ability to look up real estate information was ranked as one of the top three needs by 30 of the respondents tying it with making payments online as the highest vote getter among 11 choices. The amended FOIA addresses the issues of providing public records electronically if the public entity uses that medium in its regular course of business and Virginia Beach does so. The City may be required to provide public records electronically if such a request is made. In publishing public records on its web site, the City may elect, as other municipalities have, to exclude certain information to protect the privacy of its citizens. The Internet is ideally suited for the delivery of information at low cost.
Technology provides the self-service methods for people to access information.
The retrieval of real estate assessment information would exhibit the same cost structure as other forms of business transactions. The lowest cost delivery mechanism is self-service Internet provided. This alternative fails to meet stated citizen and customer needs for easier, faster and more convenient self-service access to public records. It continues to require City staff to be dedicated to providing the information over the phone, does not eliminate the need for trips to and parking at City offices, and fails to take advantage of an opportunity to both lower costs and provide better service. It does meet the expectations of four residents who spoke at the public hearing last July with concerns over public records being available to anyone over the Internet but it will not guarantee that public records won t appear on the Internet.