Guinn unveils plan to fight DMV delays

Thursday, Oct. 7, 1999 | 2:59 a.m.

Guinn's plan

Highlights of the governor's plan to fix the problems at the Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety:

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Kenny Guinn, hoping to stem a tide of citizen complaints, unveiled a five-point plan today to address delays at state Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety offices, including the emergency hiring of 42 workers to help customers trying to register their cars or get driver's licenses.

The governor also ordered 24-hour shifts at the department to handle the logjam of mail-in registrations and title transactions that have now fallen more than five weeks behind.

The governor stopped short of a suggestion of a legislative subcommittee that recommended the department temporarily abandon its new computer system Genesis and return to the old system until the "critical bugs" are ironed out.

In a prepared statement Guinn said, "It's time to get away from finger-pointing and laying blame and to start implementing changes that will benefit DMV employees and customers.

"The plan I'm announcing today includes short- and long-term remedies and is the results of weeks of research and planning. As governor of this state, the solution to this problem is ultimately my responsibility."

Guinn's plan calls for an immediate 30-day grace period for all registration renewals. That means the Nevada Highway Patrol will not ticket motorists who don't have their license renewals because of the backlogs at the agency. The governor also established a hotline to answer consumer questions prior to arriving at DMV offices. The number, 1-800-DMV-STATE, will be working on Monday.

For the long run Guinn is ordering a speed-up in getting new technologies online. These include business to be conducted over the Internet with credit cards; automated telephone services; and renewal of auto registration in Las Vegas and Reno at smog inspection stations.

"I stood in line myself at the DMV, and I know the frustration of customers and employees," Guinn said. "Even though the system is improving steadily, the steps I'm announcing today are badly needed to provide relief to this situation."

The $25 million Genesis computer system was put online Sept. 7. Since then customers have had to wait as long as six hours before getting service at the offices, particularly in Las Vegas. There have been overcharges in the registration of some vehicles. Car registrations have been wrongly suspended because of computer glitches.

When the system was started, there were about 12,000 mail-in registrations to process, which usually took five to seven days. The backlog has grown to an estimated 56,000 with a month or more to take care a business transaction.

Car dealers, those who run businesses in title transfers, towing companies and others have complained they are losing money because of the snafu at the department.

Assemblyman Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, who heads a legislative subcommittee overseeing Genesis, said all of the measures announced by Guinn today will help.

But he added, "I'm concerned how much money this is going to cost that we haven't budgeted for. I don't think we can impose additional fees" on motorists to cover the additional costs.

Beers praised the governor for accelerating work on the new technologies. But he said the system must be fixed before those features are put into place.

DMV officials, he said, have testified that Genesis will never be faster than the previous system. Allowing motorists to renew driver's licenses via the Internet with credit cards and permitting auto registration at smog stations will help by keeping customers out of the DMV offices and the long lines.

But he emphasized the computer bugs must be cured first.

Ginny Lewis, deputy director for the motor vehicle department, told a legislative subcommittee Tuesday that the system was getting better. Before Genesis, a renewal of a registration could be handled within three minutes. Now it's taking a little over four minutes. "That's reasonable," she said.

But Beers questioned those times. "Citizens don't give a whit about the transaction time," said Beers, who noted customers must wait hours in line for service.

"Those are not acceptable levels," Beers said.

Lewis took some steps this week to alleviate the lines. Those with simple transactions, such as renewal of driver's licenses or car registrations or change of address, will be directed to a clerk who can handle these transactions quickly. Those with the more complicated problems will stay in the extended lines.

And computer improvements in the mail-in processing should help speed up that work, she said.

The long lines, Lewis said are occurring mostly in the Las Vegas offices.

There are an estimated 250-300 "critical bugs" remaining in the system and no estimate when they will be fixed. But Lewis said the malfunctions are being repaired faster than new ones occur. Lewis and Jon Lemelin of Deloitte & Touche, the firm paid $9 million to design the system, could not predict when normal operations might occur.