New Orleans residents can now pay tickets, fees and taxes and register for hurricane evacuation assistance using self-service kiosks at four local Winn-Dixie stores in a partnership between the grocery chain and the city of New Orleans.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Joey Medina, regional vice president of Winn-Dixie, announced the partnership earlier this month. Since Hurricane Katrina, Nagin has called for using modern technology to increase government access a priority.

New Orleans is the only city in Louisiana to have the kiosks, said Ceeon Quiett, the city’s communications director.

“We are looking for other locations,” she said. ” We will be expanding soon.”

Shelton Myers, a project leader in the mayor’s technology office, said the kiosks were placed at these locations:

• Winn-Dixie No. 1408, 4600 Chef Menteur Highway in New Orleans East.
• Winn-Dixie No. 1426, 3008 Holiday Drive in Chalmette.
• Winn-Dixie No. 1432, 3300 Paris Road in Gentilly.
• Winn-Dixie No. 1430, 5400 Tchoupitoulas.

The express service allows citizens to pay parking tickets, traffic tickets, sales taxes, real estate taxes, property taxes and camera violations using a MasterCard or Visa. It also allows residents to register for the City Assisted Evacuation Plan, in time for the hurricane season starting June 1, explained Robin Miller, director of brand communications for Winn-Dixie.

Using the touch-screen kiosks with built-in keyboards, residents also may view a list of public meetings and recovery project maps, submit an application for or view the status of a permit, locate any department within the city government using the city directory and access city and the state Web sites to view news, press releases and other services offered.

Allen Chastant, regional manager for Winn-Dixie, said, “The kiosks are an extension of City Hall.”

“They are all located in the front of the store. As long as you have a debit or credit card, you can take care of and pay just about anything related to the city,” he added.

Quiett said, “These kiosks were created to be able to help people do things either at home or someplace convenient without having to come in. Winn-Dixie was the first to step up and build a partnership.”

“Of course, people’s needs are a lot greater” since Katrina,” she added.  ”Right after the storm, some City Hall offices were all dispersed -people were in trailers, City Hall wasn’t functional – that made it even more important to have something the people could use online.”

Myers said residents are happy with being able to avoid coming downtown to take care of these chores and having to face the parking situation around City Hall.

“I have already talked to some residents and they were really pleased with our idea. They don’t have to come all the way downtown for something they can do over the kiosks,” he said.

Nagin said in a news release that Winn-Dixie has a special commitment to New Orleans because it was the last major store to close during Hurricane Katrina and the first store to reopen afterward.

Winn-Dixie’s Miller said the chain, which has been in New Orleans since 1956, is “firmly committed to the recovery of this great city and this is one more way for us to show that commitment.”

Other cities have government kiosks, but they are mostly to provide information, according to a survey of six major Louisiana cities.

The city of Baton Rouge has special kiosks only for directory assistance. Alexandria officials said it has parking kiosks but residents must pay fees at the local courthouse or the parish. Officials in Shreveport, Lafayette, Monroe and Bossier City said they have nothing similar.