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By Gene Meyer | Kansas Reporter
DMV computer fix remains elusive.
MISSION — In May and June of last year, the Kansas Division of Motor Vehicles brought in some $18 million from tags and licenses.
This year — May 8 to be exact — the Kansas Revenue Department installed a $40 million 3M Corp computer system designed to help the DMV run more efficiently, more proficiently.
That hasn’t happened. Mostly, the computers have flashed a metaphorical error message.
In May and June this year, the DMV has brought in about $15 million, said Steve Stotts, the revenue departments tax operations chief.
All but $300,000 of that $3 million drop hit in May, when Kansas shut down its DMV offices for a week to switch its 1980s era mainframe computers to a web based-system using the 3M software.
Restart, please.
DMV offices across Kansas are still catching up with work that became backlogged during the shutdown.
Kansas’ troubled DMV computers were working Monday. Just not so well. The state is withholding the final 10 percent of payments owed to 3M until all the problems are resolved.
People trying to renew license tags at the DMV office in Mission on Monday, for example, faced a potential nine-hour wait.
Even so, operations statewide Monday were working better than Friday, when a massive slowdown in Topeka essentially shut down registration and title work across most of Kansas before noon. The problem hit on the last Friday and final workday of the month, which are historically among DMV’s busiest days
“The computers are working today, and we’re still assessing the problem,” Jeannine Koranda, the Kansas Revenue Department’s chief information officer, said Monday afternoon.
The drop from last year’s collection pace isn’t entirely due to computer problems, at least not directly, Stotts said. Kansas motorists have been offered deadline extensions in May and June, and most recently Friday until July 13 to complete title and tag work while officials try to figure things out.
“Some people out there want to hold on to their money as long as possible,” Stotts said.
Kansas will get its money eventually, when the extensions run out, he predicted. “We’ll have some months when income is higher than a year ago, too,” Stotts said.
About a week ago, Kansas Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan and department officials proclaimed the worst of the backlog problems were ending in most Kansas counties; the new computers were more quickly spitting out titles, registrations and other documents when motorists finally reached DMV windows.
According to 3M, its software is working as it should and — while working through the backlog— actually processing more title and registration transactions than the old system, said Jacqueline Berry, a corporate spokeswoman. The company is offering help to state and local DMV offices, she said.
