If the county's Department of Motor Vehicles office were to cut 5 percent of its expenses, it would seriously jeopardize current, profitable revenue streams, County Clerk Don Read told the Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday.
In 2009, the county's DMV took in $70,000 in profits, and that number could top $150,000 in 2010.
As part of the county's budget process, department heads are being asked to suggest ways to shave 5 percent of their expenses.
Read said to make that significant of a cut he would need to lay off a staff member, which would mean less staff time to process DMV paperwork for out-of-county auto dealers.
Apparently, Read's office has been able to build a business around servicing the DMV needs of Monroe County dealers because of quicker turn-around times.
Eliminating staff members would take that process from three or five days to 10 days or more, erasing the edge Genesee County's DMV office has over Monroe County.
"We've gone from a deficit in that office of $41,000 to this year showing a significant profit," Read said.
He thinks 2011's profit could exceed $200,000.
Profits from the DMV office go back into the county's general fund.
Read said the local staff's primary responsibility is taking care of walk-in clients, so if staffing were reduced, their would be less time available to handle dealers' DMV needs.
About 35 to 40 percent of Genesee County's walk-in DMV clients are from outside of Genesee County, and if waits became longer because of staffing constraints, the county would start losing that business as well.
County Manager Jay Gsell called the idea of 5 percent cuts a "suggestion."
"We told the department heads, you know your budget better than we and so we'll take those suggestions and see what to do with it," Gsell said.
During the Ways and Means Committee meeting, there didn't seem to be much enthusiasm for cutting the county clerk's budget.
"The bottom line is the bottom line," said Mary Pat Hancock, chairwoman of the Legislature. "I’m glad you’re making money. I don’t want to hurt that."
The DMV is concerned about
The DMV is concerned about making a 5% budget cut because it will cut into their "profits"???
I was under the impression that government agencies were revenue neutral (non-profit).
I'm glad that they are not in the red, but something about them operating like a business, with a profit motive, just doesn't sound right to me.
Am I missing something here?
DMV has become a way to tax
DMV has become a way to tax us without calling it a tax. The HUGE increases in "fees" are certainly not a result of increased operating costs. These fees simply get dumped into the states general fund.
And now I read that they are a profit center?
I can't wait to leave this state. 2012 is the target. It just seems get worse every day. And the incumbents think they deserve reelection.
Disgusting.
I was promised something in
I was promised something in the mail by a DMV staff member on Tuesday. "I'm putting it in the mail right now". I was told. As of today, it hasn't arrived.
How many times have we heard
How many times have we heard the we should run the government like a business? Then when one department does, people complain.
John, I don't think that the
John, I don't think that the "run government like a business" mantra meant that government should make a profit off it's citizens.
Are you ok with the DMV being profit driven?
It's admirable to run a government department so efficiently that you end up with a budget surplus, but a government agency having a profit motivated philosophy is something entirely different.
The public would be surprised
The public would be surprised if they knew how much funds came directly to the general fund through fees or reimbursements.However some of these reimbursements are initially charged to a county departments budget. If Genesee County can raise money through DMV and it helps the county tax rate by all means make a profit. If we can serve out of county residents better and faster than their county can good for us.
When the Genesee County
When the Genesee County Clerk’s Office processes something for the Department of Motor Vehicles, a percentage of the fees stay local. If the transaction is processed by mail, the whole fee goes to Albany. Typically, the County Clerk’s Office can process these things for less than the fee percentage the county is allowed to keep. This is what Mr. Read is referring to as a “profit”. He is trying to keep as much revenue as he can local, instead of it all going to Albany. NEVER RENEW BY MAIL!
Thank you for that
Thank you for that clarification Mark.
No good deed goes unpunished.
No good deed goes unpunished.