NATCHEZ — The online face of the City of Natchez will soon be getting a makeover.

The city is budgeting $50,000 for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, for a revamp to its website.

Natchez Information Technology Director Ed Bowser said he does not believe it will take $50,000 to upgrade the site, however.

“Most of the time, I’ve seen $12,000 to $15,000 for decent revamps to municipal websites,” Bowser said. “I just budgeted $50,000 in case (the Natchez Board of Aldermen) want something completely off the wall.”

Mayor Butch Brown said he believes it is important the city has an up-to-date website that offers more services that its current site.

The new website will feature services including online renewal for business licenses, payment of inspection fees and other fees collected at City Hall.

An online payment system, Brown said, will allow residents and business owners to pay fees at their own convenience.

Brown said he would also like to see other payments, such as traffic tickets, eventually included in the website if possible.

Bowser said the website should be informative to visitors.

“We want visitors to be able to get information for every (city) department and their services,” he said.

Other features of the website, Bowser said, will allow each city department to update their section of the website with relevant information for residents.

Bowser said the new website will likely mirror the look and feel of the Natchez Convention and Visitors Bureau website, visitnatchez.org.

“It’s all about developing a brand and a look,” he said. “If (the two websites) look like each other, as far as the color scheme and things, it’s really nice.”

The city will bid out the website upgrade, Bowser said, and it will likely take two or three months from when a company is hired to launch the website.