Still waiting on aid from state, registrars ask for fee increases

Hit hard by the botched introduction of a new license and registration computer system two summers ago — and still waiting on reimbursement aid state lawmakers have said they’re eager to provide — Minnesota’s deputy registrars are seeking an increase in some service fees key to their bottom lines.

HF1008, sponsored by Rep. Steve Elkins (DFL-Bloomington), proposes to hike the cost of some transactions in response to increased costs the mix of city-, county- and privately-run businesses are facing in response to the debut of the much-troubled Minnesota License and Registration System, called MNLARS, in July 2017.

Only the Legislature can set filing fees. The increases are needed, an industry representative said Tuesday, to ensure deputy registrars are covering increased costs and heightened workloads.

“This is an honest effort to say, ‘This is what we need, at a bare minimum,’” said Jim Hirst, representing the Minnesota Deputy Registrars Association.

Under the bill, which was laid over for possible inclusion in an omnibus transportation bill set to be constructed in the coming weeks, four fees would rise:

• the motor vehicle filing fee by $2.50 for registration renewals (from $6 to $8.50) and by $3.50 for other types of vehicle transactions (from $10 to $13.50);
• driver’s license and state identification card transactions by $4; and
• the fee for the issuance of a duplicate title by $20, after being established as an expedited transaction.

SF1124, a companion sponsored by Sen. David Senjem (R-Rochester), awaits action by the Senate Transportation Finance and Policy Committee.

Hirst said the deputy registrars association arrived at the level of the proposed fee increases through contracted time and motion studies at a variety of offices across the state — large, small, urban, and rural — over the past two years in an attempt to gauge the overall average of the increased time to complete the transactions.

Rep. John Petersburg (R-Waseca) said he backed the bill and remained “disheartened” that the Legislature had yet to OK aid to registrars who have suffered after the MNLARS rollout.

House language in a supplemental MNLARS funding bill would have provided $10 million in aid for the local driver and vehicle services offices. But a Senate amendment stripped that appropriation from the bill before the House re-passed it and sent the legislation to Gov. Tim Walz’s desk.

“This is one avenue we have to do something,” Petersburg said.