How to fix what’s wrong at DMV
Tired of long lines at your Driver License office? Ask your Republican legislators to call a special session to solve the problem before it gets worse. And it will get much, much worse if nothing is done.
As for having a special session to solve the problem: Republican legislators have found lots of political issues to justify special sessions. Why not a special session to solve a real problem their constituents face?
Why single out Republican legislators? They control the legislature with their super majority. They could solve the problem with a two- or three-day session. If they act now to appropriate several million dollars to hire more examiners plus increase pay, the issue of long lines could be greatly mitigated before next summer. The cost, several million dollars, is chump change for them. They found that much plus more in their 2018-’19 budget to fund “special projects” (i.e. pork barrel) for their members.
Besides, the problem is one created by Republicans. A substantial contributor to DMV’s long lines is the U.S. REAL ID Act, a Republican congressional initiative, so Republican legislators should support an effort to reduce the impact on constituents of a law their party passed.
Legislators need to increase the number of examiners and their pay to reduce DMV wait times. In both respects, legislators — who are constitutionally responsible for the budget — are failing the public.
When I left DMV in 2008, we had 508 examiner positions. Now there are 552, a 10 per cent increase. But in 10 years the population has increased 12 per cent, and more importantly, the REAL ID Act has increased the amount of time required to complete a transaction.
But more examiner positions won’t solve the problem if they don’t get higher pay. In 2001 the starting pay for an examiner was $24,355. Today it is $31,200, a 28 percent increase — but the Consumer Price Index has increased 41 percent — while the job has gotten tougher, contributing to a 16 percent turnover rate.
In 2001, DMV went through a similar crisis. The Charlotte Observer in August 2001 reported on the high turnover among examiners that left many positions vacant in an article headlined: “DMV pay, turnover makes Charlotte lines the worst.”
The Observer interviewed a UNC-Charlotte economics professor who explained, “…basically for the amount of education and experience, people can get better jobs…And every time you look up, you have people waiting.” The Observer pointed out that an unskilled worker in the City of Charlotte wastewater treatment center started at the same pay as an examiner.
Today, a dog pound attendant for the City of Charlotte has the same starting salary as an examiner — $31,200. A customer revenue specialist for Charlotte, a position with many duties similar to examiners’, starts at $36, 248.
The money is there to add staff and increase salaries. The Driver License Section brings in $5 in revenue for every $1 in expenditures.
Most importantly, new examiners can make a difference. The 2003 legislature funded 45 new examiner positions. In July 2004, DMV studied the impact of the positions on customer wait times using data captured in our electronic queuing system.
We documented that the new positions reduced wait times by 29 minutes for first time issuances and 23 minutes for renewal and duplicate issuances. The total savings was an estimated 1 million hours — from an expenditure just over $1 million.
DMV customers are quick (and right) to tell you their time is valuable. If customers in 2003 valued their time at $10 an hour, then we saved them $10 million.
Our legislators need to return to Raleigh to fund more examiner positions and increase pay to stop high turnover, and in doing so save millions for their constituents. Voters, for their part, should hold legislators accountable if they fail to act.
This story was originally published August 15, 2018 at 8:55 AM.