April 2, 2012
12-081
Office changes starting in May
DMV is going to close its last two express DMV offices and switch its Sherwood office from Tuesday-Saturday business hours to a standard Monday-Friday schedule in mid-May.
The changes will better match the ways and times people do business with DMV and will save nearly half a million dollars each two-year state budget cycle.
"This will provide better customer service at lower cost at our full-service offices," DMV Administrator Tom McClellan said. "People need to visit DMV offices in person less often than in the past, and when they do they usually need full services that we cannot provide at our express offices or on Saturdays."
The two remaining express DMV offices are located at the Tanasbourne mall in Hillsboro and the Valley River Center mall in Eugene. The leases for both offices are expiring this year, and their last day of business will be May 12. Staff from these offices will be reassigned to nearby full-service DMV offices, which will increase customer service capacity at those locations.
Three full-service DMV offices are located within a few miles of the Tanasbourne office: Beaverton (6 miles); Hillsboro (8 miles); and Sherwood (14 miles). And three full-service DMVs are within a few miles of the Valley River Center office: West Eugene (4 miles); Springfield (8 miles); and Junction City (14 miles).
The full-service DMV office in Sherwood has been open Tuesday through Friday and half a day Saturday. It will switch to 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday (except opening at 9 a.m. Wednesdays) starting Monday, May 14. Its final Saturday business hours will be May 12.
DMV launched more than a dozen express offices during the 1980s primarily in shopping malls and began offering Saturday business hours at a few offices throughout Oregon. Since then, the ways people do business with DMV have changed substantially:
- People now renew their vehicle registrations by mail, online or at DEQ stations in areas that require emissions testing.
- Customers use DMV online services to renew vehicle registrations, file a change of address, or file a sold vehicle notice.
- People also download forms to do many other transactions by mail.
- Oregon Driver Licenses and Identification Cards are now valid for eight years rather than four, cutting in half the frequency that customers must come to a DMV office for a new photo and new card.
- Tougher identification requirements that Oregon implemented in the past few years have made some driver license and ID card renewals more complex and therefore more easily done at full-service offices. Limited-service offices and offices open Saturdays often need to ask customers to return to a full-service office another day.
"By reassigning staff to full-service offices and to regular Monday-Friday business hours, DMV will reduce the number of repeat visits," McClellan said. "We also expect to reduce wait times by increasing the number of staff available at full-service offices and by having support at DMV Headquarters available for complex customer situations."
In these economic times, both businesses and government agencies are looking for ways to streamline services and become more efficient. With the closure of the last two limited-service offices, DMV will start saving nearly $250,000 per year in rent, utilities, and building and equipment maintenance.
"Customer use of DMV offices has been shifting away from express offices and Saturday hours for the past several years," McClellan said. "With leases for the last two of these offices expiring this year, the decreasing need for in-person visits, and leaner state budgets in the foreseeable future, this is a logical time to make these changes."
###ODOT###
|