DMV seeks ways to reduce lines

Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2003 | 11:01 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The state Department of Motor Vehicles wants to spend $11 million over the next two years to try to reduce Southern Nevada's long waits for vehicle registrations and driver's licenses.

But Assemblyman Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, is questioning whether residents might prefer that the state spend the money on new roads to reduce traffic congestion. He suggested increasing the charges for people who go to DMV offices instead of using the Internet or mail alternatives.

Motor Vehicles Director Ginny Lewis on Monday said a better solution would be her budget proposal to hire 184 more employees for the four major offices in Las Vegas and the one in Reno.

The average wait in the last six months in Southern Nevada ranged from about an hour to about 90 minutes, officials said. It's not uncommon, however, for new Las Vegas residents to spend about four to five hours on a Saturday at a DMV office to obtain a driver's license or a Nevada license plate.

An estimated 10,000 people move into Clark County every month. Many of them them need driver's licenses with their new addresses. And those new residents who arrive from other states also need Nevada vehicle registrations and license plates. Lewis told legislators that failure to approve the budget will mean the waiting times will increase as the population grows.

People who were waiting in line at the DMV office on Sahara Avenue had mixed opinions about the budget proposal. "I don't think they should be hiring that many people when we have budget concerns like we do now," said Walter Driggers, a Las Vegan since 1972. He had arrived at the office at 6:30 a.m. to be one of the first 10 in line for the 8 a.m. opening. "If they spend it here, you know they will have to cut from somewhere else."

Bernard Jones suggested: "They should sub-contract it out to private groups just like they do in Seattle for registrations and renewals. That way, they won't have to spend a dime hiring more people and people will pay the state money to get that contract."

Brian O'Sullivan, a seven-year local resident, and and John Kirk, a Las Vegas resident of 14 years, said the state should spend more money on schools instead of increasing spending the DMV.

Tammy Collins, a six-year area resident, was about 130th in line this morning. She was there to correct a computer problem with her records.

"They don't need more workers, they need to make sure the ones they have work efficiently," she said. "I go to the window because I don't trust the internet or mailing it in. I want to make sure I come here and walk out with a receipt in my hand."

Brittney Coleman, a 15-year area resident, and Roy Acosta, supported the spending of the money for extra workers.

"This (long lines) is the major problem, as I see it," Acosta said. "I lived in Dallas for five years and never saw waits like this."

A sticking point for Lewis' staff expansion plan is her proposed funding source.

The DMV keeps 22 percent of the money it collects for the state Transportation Department. Lewis said that is an arbitrary figure and has been in effect since the 1950s. Lewis wants to raise the DMV take to 29 percent to pay for the new positions so that every window in her department's metropolitan offices will be staffed at all times.

Beers countered that: "Nobody likes to stand in line. But it's once a year." He suggested the money could be better spent on new roads to ease traffic congestion.

Beers also wondered if a surcharge could be charged for those people who visit the offices rather than renewing their vehicle registration or driver's license on the Internet or by mail.

Lewis was cool to that idea. So was Sen. Bernice Mathews, D-Reno, who said she had to go to the Reno office to conduct her business.

An average of 1,000 people daily visit each of the four offices in Southern Nevada, and, accounting for lunch and coffee breaks, only 45 percent of the windows at the offices are fully staffed, officials said.

Several new Las Vegas residents recently had to wait more than four hours to obtain Nevada driver's licenses despite arriving at the Sahara DMV offices shortly after the office opened at 8 a.m. on different Saturdays.

In the spring, the department is going to install a kiosk in the Carey office to divert customers who have cash and have simple transactions away from the counters. The kiosk, to be a pilot program for a year, would also handle transactions in Spanish. If the experiment proves successful, there is $2 million in the proposed budget to expand the system to other offices in Clark and Washoe counties.

Lewis also wants money for a public information program to tell people they can register their cars over the Internet.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, said people are reluctant to give their credit card number through a computer system. And not everyone has a credit card or access to the Internet, other officials said.

Assemblywoman Vonne Chowning, D-North Las Vegas, suggested that Internet registration so far has not been successful. She questioned whether the cost of the program was worth the benefits.

"Maybe we need to stop spending money on the alternatives," Chowning said.

Lewis disagreed. "The future is on the Web. We have only scratched the surface," she said.

There were 4,900 people in the last week in December who conducted their business over the Internet, the highest monthly total so far, Lewis said.

Lewis also told the legislators that her department is developing an improved system to allow car owners in Clark and Washoe counties to renew their registrations when they are getting their vehicle checked for emissions. She said there are 400 of these smog stations and she hoped that 200 of them could be signed up for the program.

Sun reporter

Ed Koch contributed to this report.