WARWICK — Where can you go to check the status of a friend’s flight into T.F. Green Airport, get the latest on traffic, find out if it’s going to rain –– and pay your taxes?

Well, if you have a computer, you can do it all from home by visiting the city’s much-revamped Web site: www.warwickri.gov.

Among the many new features and information it offers, it gives residents the first opportunity they have had to pay their real estate and other taxes online.

Flanked by Tax Assessor Ken Mallette and Bob Martin from the city’s computer technology department, Mayor Scott Avedisian premiered the Web site on Wednesday by paying the excise tax on his 2003 Range Rover.

Although many other cities and towns have offered residents the ability to pay their taxes electronically for a few years, some initially carried high fees, and Mallette said Warwick wanted to thoroughly research the option to make it affordable as well as accessible.

By clicking on a few links on the new Web site, residents will be linked with “Official Payments” which will charge residents a 2.5-percent fee based on their tax bill. A study of other municipalities shows that typical fees are in the 2.9 to 3.5-percent range, Mallette said.

Martin, who sometimes goes by the title of city “Web master,” said that new Web site –– which took months of design work and is still evolving –– uses a multitude of open applications that are available at no charge and did not cost the city any extra money.

The goal set by Avedisian was to upgrade the Web site to not only increase the amount of information available to residents but to make it very interactive.

Martin acknowledged that he had a lot of fun and that there are many more bells and whistles on the site than is apparent at first glance.

He and Avedisian suggested that residents spend some time clicking on various links and enjoying the different features they will find. Not everything is complete, but in the end the Web site will allow residents to schedule collection of bulky trash items, post news and meetings for community groups, contribute historic photos, and get an idea of the venues available if you want to have a wedding in Warwick.

“The whole goal was to make our Web site as user friendly as possible and to promote real information in real time,” Avedisian said. “We want to make it a place people go to all the time.”

Even though it’s still evolving the amount of options already available on the site –– including traffic and airline schedules –– it is already pretty mind boggling.

With his fingers flying across a computer keyboard, Martin showed that there is information available on every city department and a fairly extensive database that includes the City Charter, minutes from City Council meetings, ordinances, ward maps, and directions to city events.

The homepage, which features a photograph of the cupola atop City Hall against a blue sky, has a changing display of photos and data boxes that highlight city services plus a calendar of events, links to all departments and a spot for public service announcements. Avedisian said that Martin has linked the city with state agencies such as emergency management and the city can post anything from flood warnings to school closings.

A lot of the Web site is designed to help residents enjoy their city, with a wealth of community information, spotlighted recreational events, and informational polls and surveys. Residents can also log complaints about potholes or nominate city departments and employees for accolades when they see a job well done.

“Our Web site before was pretty static, or what we call evergreen,” Martin said. “This is much more interactive —it’s a two-way street that really includes residents.”

Oh, and let’s not forget about paying taxes. To do that, you click on “Online Resources,” and then use the drop-down menu to reach the online payments options.

Mallette said residents will need their tax bills to enter in the proper codes. The bills start being mailed on Thursday.

He also said that people without computers do not have to worry, because the city will still make it easy for you to pay it money.

There will be a toll-free number for a new pay-by-phone tax option and people can still mail in their payments or stop by in person. Acknowledging that there are some people who even dislike paying by check, Mallette said that yes, cash is still accepted.

bpoliche@projo.com