May 7, 2012
12-119
Changes to Tanasbourne, Valley River & Sherwood offices
Changes announced in April to three DMV offices – two in the Portland area and one in Eugene – are on schedule to be in place by May 14.
DMV is closing its last two express offices and switching 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.
The two remaining express DMV offices are located at the Tanasbourne mall in Hillsboro and the Valley River Center in Eugene. Leases for both offices are expiring this year, and their last day of business will be May 12. Staff 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 offices are within a few miles of the Valley River Center: 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.
"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 the full range of services that we cannot provide at our express offices or on Saturdays."
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 submit 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 people 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 adopting 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 maintenance costs.
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