DMV offices to add 20 more employees in Las Vegas

CARSON CITY -- With wait times at some Las Vegas DMV offices averaging 70 minutes, the state agency was authorized Thursday by legislators to hire 20 more people.

The Legislature's Interim Finance Committee agreed to the additional hiring after Department of Motor Vehicles Director Bruce Breslow described how wait times have increased by 20 minutes in Las Vegas offices since the summer.

The number of transactions handled by his staff is up 58,000 this year compared with last year.

Breslow said he was not sure why the caseload has been growing during a recession. But his statistics show 5,537 people from other states turned in their licenses in November as part of the process of acquiring Nevada licenses.

Generally this license turn-in figure is a good indication of the population growth in the state.

This year's figure is only a couple of hundred less than the November numbers during the peak population growth period of 2005-07.

Funds for the hiring come from $1.3 million set aside by the Legislature in a DMV reserve account during the session in the spring.

The agency was authorized to use the money to hire as many as 30 people, but Breslow first was required to go before the Finance Committee and justify the need

While Breslow was addressing legislators, the wait times at Flamingo and Decatur offices in Las Vegas were just two and three minutes respectively, while the wait at the Sahara office was 36 minutes.

He told legislators the longest waits occur in the afternoon.

By hiring the new employees to work at DMV counters, Breslow said he will send some driving examiners back to their regular jobs of giving driving tests to new drivers.

Because of the longer wait times, he said driving examiners were placed at counters.

Wait times for people seeking to take driving tests, however, now are six weeks and longer.

Wait times at DMV offices are calculated from the point when a person registers at the check-in counter. Generally, there is no wait line when a person walks up to that counter, DMV spokesman Tom Jacobs said.

Customers also can complete multiple transactions, such as getting a new license and registering a car, at the same time. Counter workers are trained to handle multiple transactions.

Most of the legislative debate Thursday was over whether the committee should approve hiring 20 employees or the 30 allowed by the budget.

Several legislators preferred to wait six months before deciding whether to hire the other 10 workers so they can determine whether kiosks the DMV plans to install in March will reduce wait times.

Breslow said 20 kiosks will be placed in Las Vegas grocery stores and at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and University of Nevada, Reno student unions.

At the kiosks, drivers can complete vehicle registration renewals by following written procedures and avoid going into DMV offices.

An additional fee is charged to use the kiosks.

Rural Republicans, who usually frown on additional spending were most upset about not approving the hiring of the full 30 employees.

"We aren't giving customers good service," said Assemblyman Tom Grady, R-Yerington. "We need to reduce the wait times of people in Southern Nevada. We are talking about 10 people. It could make a difference."

"We have a problem we are not addressing," added Assembly Minority Leader Pete Goicoechea, R-Eureka.

Goicoechea said he stood in a 1½-block-long line in Elko starting at 7:30 on a recent morning when he went to get his license renewed.

But Assembly Majority Leader Marcus Conklin, D-Las Vegas, said getting 20 new employees was better than hiring none.

Conklin supported hiring 30 new workers, too, but a motion to hire that many was rejected.

"We need to take a step forward," Conklin said before he and other members approved hiring the 20 new workers.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.