Committee skeptical of DMV reorganization plan

Monday, May 17, 1999 | 7:45 a.m.

The reorganization is a vital part of the administration's plan to launch a "Project Genesis" computer system that'll automate and streamline DMV services, acting agency director John Drew told the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.

Genesis was based on the assumption that the reorganization effort was a done deal - an assumption that influenced how the program's computer code was written.

The reorganization would create four divisions within DMV: one for registration and licensing, one for title transfers and mail-in requests, one for management and one for enforcement of department regulations.

"The technology was written with these four divisions in mind - all the screens and the data flows have been written with these four divisions in mind," Drew said later.

If the reorganization plan isn't approved, the Deloitte Consulting team that developed the Genesis system may have to go back and make sure it will still function properly, he said.

When Deloitte took on the project two years ago, it assumed that the system it was hired to develop was only part of the overall effort to reorganize the DMV and improve its services, said Deloitte consultant Jon Lemelin.

"I don't know what the impact of this decision would have on the system, but I think we'd have to stop, pause, delay," he told the committee.

That pause and any adjustments to the system - which is just a few weeks from being partially implemented - could end up costing the state anywhere from $1 million to $4 million, Drew said.

The Ways and Means Committee earlier rejected a proposed reorganization of the 825-employee department that would have given managers up to a 10 percent raise. Also rejected was an agency plea for 50 new employees.

The agency requested the extra employees to help it through the Genesis project. DMV representatives said the extra workers could be reduced when the project is completed.

This time around, lawmakers seemed irked by the news that rejecting the reorganization plan, without salary increases or new hires, could end up costing the state millions.

"In one hearing we've been told that the reorganization won't affect the Genesis going forward, and now we're being told something different," said Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas.

She demanded that DMV officials show her documentation proving that the computer system was developed on the back of the department's reorganization plans.

While Drew said he would provide the information to the committee, he also insisted that his department has consistently provided lawmakers with the necessary documents and testimony throughout the session.

Still, lawmakers seemed baffled by Monday's testimony.

"I don't think these caveats were properly explained to us in subcommittee," Assemblyman Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, said.

The final costs of Genesis will run about $35 million over seven years. The department is asking for $8.6 million to fund the project for the coming biennium. The program has roughly three years left until it's finally complete.