Iowa Department of Transportation Director of the Motor Vehicle Division, Mark Lowe, told Carroll County residents and supervisors that the department had selected Clay and Carroll County licensing stations for closure effective Aug. 31, based on their volume, or rather what the DOT saw as a lack thereof.
Spreadsheets prepared by the DOT showed the Carroll County population at just shy of 20,500 with approximately 15,900 licensed drivers. The county retains $7 for each driver’s license or ID produced each year, for example, 7,544 were issued in fiscal year 2016. If the Carroll County Treasurer’s Office is to take over the licensing duties, this provides them with an approximation of the amount they can expect in reimbursement. Carroll County resident, Virginia Hagemann asked Lowe where the county would get the remainder of funding if it was needed.
Lowe responded that for counties with low numbers of licenses issued and renewed, they are able to conduct this business in the same space with the same staff and are actually making money. Other counties who see moderate to higher numbers over about 5,000 or so, are looking at added expenses and loss of some revenue.
The salary and benefits for these employees are not mandated, but are under the control of the county. Carroll County Supervisors will review the options and the need and will determine if they will be moving forward with offering the services through the Carroll County Treasurer’s Office. This request would have to be approved by the Iowa Legislature and then a determination would have to be made about staffing and training. It is expected this process could take several months, and at this time DOT Director, Paul Trombino, has said they will not be extending services past the Aug. 31 end date for the Clay and Carroll stations and the seven maintenance garages that will close at the same time. Supervisors are also discussing ways to cover gaps in service during the transition with the possible temporary placement of a self-service kiosk or asking residents to utilize the services in our surrounding counties for their licensing needs until they can get up and running in Carroll County.
