IT Ad Hoc Committee Website Report

WordPress Platform Recommendation

The Recommendation

Adopt a managed WordPress website on WP Engine using the CityGov theme, Elementor for visual editing, Gravity Forms for forms, and SharePoint as the internal document system of record.

Ongoing Cost
$53/mo
Recurring cost starting year two. Year 1 averages ~$475/mo including setup.
One-Time Setup
$5,000
Professional developer build with staff training included.
Document Platform
SharePoint
Internal governance via M365. Approved documents published to the website for public access.

Monthly Cost Summary

ComponentAnnual CostMonthly Equiv.
WP Engine Hosting$360$30
Cloud Document Storage$120$10
Gravity Forms$99$8
Elementor Pro$59$5
CityGov Theme$59 (one-time)—
SharePoint (Internal Governance)Included in M365$0
Year 1 Total$5,697~$475/mo
Year 2+ Total$638~$53/mo ongoing
Recommended Next Step: Obtain quotes from 2–3 WordPress developers experienced in municipal or civic association sites for the initial build ($4,000–$6,000 range). The CityGov theme's "Civic Association" demo can serve as the design starting point.

Why WordPress Wins

WordPress powers 43% of the web. It is the only platform evaluated that checks every box for Heritage Village.

Market Share
43.4%
Of all websites on the internet (W3Techs, 2025).
Sites Worldwide
500M+
Including whitehouse.gov, CNN, and Microsoft.
Plugin Ecosystem
60K+
Free plugins. 70,000+ total with premium options.

Platform Comparison

PlatformVerdictWhy
CivicPlus / Revize Too Expensive $25K+ setup, $10K+/yr ongoing. Built for governments, not HOAs.
Squarespace No Docs No document center or organized document pages. 20MB file limit.
Wix Wrong Look No municipal templates. Sites look commercial, not civic.
HOA Platforms Wrong Look Cookie-cutter portals. Right tool for operations, wrong tool for a public website.
Wild Apricot Too Expensive $315–350/mo at our scale. 2GB storage limit.
WordPress Recommended Municipal design, document hosting, flexible forms, ~$53/month.
WordPress is the only platform that achieves municipal-grade design, native document hosting with SharePoint as the internal system of record, flexible form workflows, and ongoing cost under $55/month.

Cost & Comparison

WordPress requires a larger upfront investment but becomes the most cost-effective option by year five.

10-Year Cumulative Cost

All platforms: setup, hosting, licensing, and renewals

Monthly Cost Breakdown

Where your ~$53/month goes in steady-state operation

The MuniBit Alternative

Strengths

Turnkey Municipal CMS

AI-powered searchable PDFs, drag-and-drop builder, custom forms with payment processing, ADA-compliant. All support and training included. Approximately $149–219/month.

Open Questions

Research Still Needed

Three critical unknowns:

  1. Will they serve an HOA? They reference municipalities, not HOAs.
  2. SSO support? Not documented on their site.
  3. Final pricing? A formal quote is needed.
Action Required: Contact MuniBit to determine eligibility, SSO support, and exact pricing. If all three answers are favorable, MuniBit becomes a strong alternative.
At $149/month, MuniBit's 10-year cost is $17,880 versus $11,439 for WordPress (a $6,441 difference). WordPress becomes cheaper by year five. The trade-off: turnkey maintenance vs. lower long-term cost with a manageable site-owner model.