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Program Enhancements and Other Budget Adjustments
Department of Motor Vehicles
The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) promotes driver safety by licensing drivers, and protects consumers and ownership security by issuing vehicle titles and regulating vehicle sales. The DMV collects fees that are revenues to the Motor Vehicle Account. Over the past two years, the DMV has reduced field office wait times in the largest offices from nearly one hour to 20 minutes and reduced customer telephone wait times by more than 50 percent. The Governor's Budget proposes $902.9 million, all from non-General Fund sources, and 8,280 positions for support of the DMV. This represents an increase of $19.2 million above the revised 2006-07 budget and $55.2 million above the 2006 Budget Act.
In addition to the project discussed below, the Budget will provide additional funds for customer-friendly improvements including an increase in Internet-available information and transactions. This year, DMV customers have been given the ability to have Internet access regarding the status of occupational licenses and to report a change of address or the sale of their vehicles online. Also, DMV has begun to suspend the registration of vehicles on which there is no financial responsibility and has initiated a campaign to encourage organ donation.
DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MODERNIZATION
The DMV's mainframe systems are antiquated, are written in archaic programming languages, and require replacement. The Budget includes $24 million to continue the process of replacing these systems with commercially available software. This project will cost approximately $242 million over seven years.
REAL ID ACT
The Act sets minimum standards for the creation and issuance of driver's license and identification cards that will be acceptable for official federal purposes, such as air travel and entering federal buildings. The Act has significant workload and cost implications for the DMV because it requires 24 million licensed drivers and identification card holders in California to return to DMV offices to establish identity and obtain compliant cards when many of these individuals otherwise would have been able to conduct these transactions through the mail or internet. Provisions of the Act require implementation by May 11, 2008; however, federal regulations concerning implementation are still under development. Once the Real ID regulations are promulgated, the DMV will be in a better position to accurately quantify resource needs for the budget year.
Due to this delay, the 2007-08 Budget does not propose any new Real ID expenditures, but a spring request will likely be necessary. The 2006-07 Budget included $18.8 million to begin the planning, programming, and infrastructure development necessary to implement the federal Real ID Act. These activities will enhance information technology infrastructure systems, streamline service delivery processes, and increase capacity and productivity in DMV field offices. In addition, these activities will further enhance DMV business processes by facilitating improved communication with other states, business partners and DMV customers. The Administration is aggressively seeking federal funds to implement the Real ID Act. In addition, the Administration will continue to exercise a leadership role in advising federal rulemakers of the impact the Real ID Act will have on California citizens.
CREDIT CARD TRANSACTION FEES
As the DMV continues to promote use of the Internet to process transactions and provide better field office service, the number of transactions is expected to increase. Because credit card companies charge the state a per-transaction fee, the DMV will incur additional costs to process such transactions. The Budget includes $11.4 million for this purpose.
CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS for
Business, Transportation, and Housing Back to Top
PRINTABLE BUDGET DOCUMENTS Back to Top
Budget Summary - Business, Transportation, and Housing (pdf * - 103K)
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Provides this entire Business, Transportation, and Housing Chapter in pdf format.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Back to Top
Proposed Budget Detail - Business, Transportation, and Housing
Displays Proposed Budget Detail information for Business, Transportation, and Housing.
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