2019.01.23 CC Packet - Goal Setting Session

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LICENSE CENTER SERVICE FEES Position: Washington County supports legislation to increase the fees retained by deputy registrars for completing license transactions. This business model, when adequately funded, allows the county to provide a wide variety of deputy registrar services and ensures services are available throughout Minnesota. Issue: The 2017 implementation of the MN Licensing and Registration System (MNLARS) and the 2018 implementation of the new driver license system, Fast DS, with Enhanced and Real ID compliant driver licenses increases the costs of license center operations by moving data entry from the state to the deputy registrar offices, requiring additional background checks for employees, and increasing transaction time. In addition to these major operational changes the county is required to provide approximately 18,000 no fee transactions per year for driver's license and motor vehicle services such as motor vehicle sticker address changes, driver's license status updates, and disability certificates. The deputy registrar portion of the license fee is set by statute and without legislative action it cannot be increased to provide adequate funding for the staff time and other associated expenses deputy registrars are incurring. Each year the license and service centers managed by Washington County complete approximately 300,000 transactions on behalf of the state. In 2017, the county collected and sent over $37 million to the State of Minnesota. In order to maintain these important services and a distributed service model throughout the state, the fee for service must adequately cover costs. In 2018, the county increased its costs by over $300,000 per year to add an additional eight service representatives to our three license centers to handle the increased workload from the MNLARS implementation and to reduce customer wait times. Support and Opposition: Support will come from the Minnesota Deputy Registrars Association, the Minnesota Association of County Officers, the Association of Minnesota Counties and the Minnesota Inter -County Association. There has been bipartisan support for reimbursing deputy registrar offices for excess costs incurred due to recent system implementations. Previous Consideration: The County Board has a long history of prioritizing legislation that provides local taxpayer protection and allows the county to deliver high quality core services. During the 2018 legislative session the County Board actively supported legislation to correct the fee allocation and reimburse deputy registrar offices for additional costs incurred due to the MNLARS implementation. The legislature did consider deputy registrar fee increases for Real ID costs during the 2017 legislative session but ultimately decided that any action was premature. A bill authorizing $9 million to reimburse deputy registrars for costs related to the MNLARS implementation was overwhelmingly approved by both the House and Senate during the 2018 session but ultimately vetoed by the Governor. No Action: If no action is taken the County Board will need to provide ongoing levy support for license services or scale back or eliminate this service. 13