The Lewis and Clark County motor vehicle department is expanding staff and offices, while the state plans to replace its computer system for registrations and licensing.
The department is adding four staff positions and plans to double its service windows as part of renovations in the City-County Building, according to Amy Reeves, county treasurer, clerk and recorder. She said the department has had a lot of turnover since October, and the number of vehicle title and registration transactions increased in the past fiscal year.
“We are so behind with renewals and titles,” Reeves said. “With the staffing issues, we just can’t get through these fast enough.”
The expansions come over a year after the county asked then-Montana Attorney General Tim Fox for help with MVD wait times and service. The county said it had already introduced an online appointments option and a webcam to check the line before visiting. The attorney general, who oversees regulation of vehicle title and registration, responded his office had improved the state MVD, the county had rejected some opportunities for state help and he welcomed discussion.
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On Friday a little after noon, people in the City-County Building had been waiting anywhere from 15 minutes to two hours or more. (The department website says some windows may be closed during the noon hour due to staffing.)
There didn’t seem to be a consensus among those waiting whether the office was better, worse or the same. A couple people mentioned the webcam as helpful.
Reeves said the department did more than 95,000 transactions in the past fiscal year, up from roughly 89,000 in each of the previous two. She said the department is dealing with an influx of people from out of state, while vehicles like boats, campers and ATVs have become a larger portion of its work.
“When a lot of people think about motor vehicles, they forget about the recreational vehicles,” Reeves said.
Across the hall from the current four service windows, four more are planned as part of county-funded renovations managed by the city. Troy Sampson, city facilities superintendent, said the project budget is around $350,000, including a contract awarded to Diamond Construction in July for about $240,000.
Sampson said construction is planned to begin the first week of November after the local election and hopefully finish by the end of February, during which people should expect less seating. He said renovations would also include a new wall enclosing election tabulators in the basement.
The county commission’s letter last year also mentioned “an inefficient computer system,” and Fox’s response said the state would continue to explore solutions for transaction processing.
The state MVD, now under Attorney General Austin Knudsen, said after about a month of making fixes early this year it determined the Montana Enhanced Registration and Licensing Information Network was not recoverable. Laurie Bakri, MVD administrator, said the division hoped to request bids in January to replace MERLIN and would look for an established system with quick transaction times.
Reeves said of the four positions under the new county budget, two staffers started last week and two positions are not yet filled. Combined with previous expansions, she said the department would have around 17 staff total, up from about 10 over a year ago, the Independent Record reported.
The county department also expanded its hours last February, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. instead of 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Independent Record reported. Reeves said the office might reduce hours if things slow down, but for now the longer hours stand.
On Friday morning, the appointments site appeared to have no openings. Reeves said online appointments are scheduled out eight weeks and have “not stopped being full.” She added it is easier for the department to answer emails instead of voicemails.
Editor's note: This story was revised Sept. 17, 2021, to correct when two new motor vehicle staffers started-- "last week," not "this week."