New demands on DMV increasing wait times

CARSON CITY — Agonizingly long lines at state DMV offices could get even longer if several measures in the legislative hopper see approval this session, a panel of lawmakers was told Thursday.

An official with the Department of Motor Vehicles said long lines at offices are growing in part due to new demands placed on the agency, with bills this session that could add voter ID cards, moped registration and medical marijuana caregiver cards for pet owners to the mix.

Troy Dillard, director of the department, said increased staff has not accompanied the increased demands being placed on the agency.

The added responsibilities have led to waits that might be the longest ever, if not at least in recent memory.

The agency, for example, is responsible for issuing medical marijuana cards now, a process that has to be repeated every year, he told a joint Ways and Means and Senate Finance subcommittee reviewing the DMV budget.

There are 8,888 card holders as of February, a number that is expected to grow significantly when medical marijuana dispensaries open around the state.

Last session the Legislature authorized the driver authorization card for residents of Nevada who are not in the country legally as a way to improve driver safety. The agency issued 23,840 driver authorization cards and 2,070 driver authorization card instruction permits in its first year of operation in 2014.

The agency’s 2015-17 budget includes a request for 75 new front office positions to help with the long lines. The positions would come on line on July 1.

“Let’s face it, the customers coming into DMV offices are not coming because they elect to, they are coming because they are obligated to,” Dillard said.

Current wait times of two to four hours are unacceptable, he said.

“We are in crisis management mode,” Dillard said.

Employees are authorized overtime every day to handle the customer volume, he said.

Field Services Administrator Nancy Wojcik said the additional positions would allow the agency to fully staff all the windows at the five metropolitan DMV offices, including the four in Las Vegas.

Dillard said the offices now can typically serve about 100 customers an hour. If there are 500 customers waiting when a DMV office opens, some will have a five-hour wait, he said.

The long-term solution is the new $109 million computer system proposed in the agency’s budget that will take five years to fully implement, but a short-term fix is also needed, Dillard said.

Sen. Mark Lipparelli, R-Las Vegas, asked what could be done to reduce the lines by reducing the requirement for people to go to the DMV in the first place.

Dillard said the new mobile platform technology offered by the agency so that customers can text in or email to get in line is helping with the volume of customers. The agency budget has additional funding to improve that system, he said.

Without it, customers would be waiting outside DMV offices on sidewalks and curbs because there would be no room inside the offices, Dillard said.

The move to an eight-year license from four years will ultimately reduce customer volume significantly, but the benefits won’t be seen for several more years, he said.

There is also a proposal from the Department of Health and Human Services to take over the medical marijuana card process that would reduce customer volumes, Dillard said.

Assemblyman Chris Edwards, R-Las Vegas, asked whether the issuance of free voter ID cards, should a bill pass to implement the program, should be handled through the secretary of state’s office rather than the DMV.

A DMV official testified earlier this week that an estimated 21,000 registered Nevada voters would need an ID issued free of charge by the agency if an ID requirement is approved by the Legislature.