Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes Report Shows Longer Wait Times at DMV Due to Furloughs

Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes Report Shows Longer Wait Times at DMV Due to Furloughs.

SACRAMENTO - The Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes released a report today that shows the Governor´s furlough program has caused longer wait times and an overall deterioration of services at the Department of Motor Vehicles. The average time a walk-in customer waits for service has gone from 27 minutes to 45 minutes since implementation of furloughs at the DMV. Those furloughs do not save the state General Fund money, because fees on motorists and the federal government fund the department.

The report, "DMV Shifts into Reverse: Furlough Fridays Eliminate Gains in Service at Department of Motor Vehicles without Saving General Fund Money" can be found here.

Before the furloughs began in February about half the customers without appointments at DMV field offices were served within 20 minutes. By October, with three furlough days in place, only 28% of customers were served so quickly. Californians who make appointments with the DMV are still served relatively promptly but with offices shut down three days a month there are fewer appointments available and people must wait longer to get them.

The slowdown reverses a successful 2004 effort by the Schwarzenegger administration to shrink average wait times from nearly an hour to less than 30 minutes.

"One of the Governor´s biggest achievements that has made life a little easier for Californians was reducing long lines at the DMV and improving their services," Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said. "Now without saving any money from the state´s budget he has single handedly wiped out those effective improvements."

The deterioration in service was detailed in a document prepared by DMV officials in response to an inquiry by the Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes as to how furloughs are affecting DMV operations. In their written response to the oversight office, DMV officials say the furloughs have resulted in a "degradation of service levels in nearly all areas of operations." Their data also showed a significant increase in backlogs on many license applications, investigations and audits.