狐狸视频

JEFFERSON CITY 鈥� When the state announced the Caruthersville license office was going to close, residents needing to renew registrations or driver licenses were directed to the closest open offices in Kennett, New Madrid and Malden.

Those communities are all at least an hour round trip from Caruthersville. The inconvenience would be compounded if, after waiting in line, the transaction couldn鈥檛 be completed for lack of a required document.

The Missouri Department of Revenue was quick to note motorists renewing vehicle registrations 鈥� but not new vehicle registrations or driver license transactions 鈥� could do so online.

But the situation in Caruthersville is not unique, as a growing number of license offices around the state are shuttering 鈥� currently at least six of 175 鈥� with dozens more operating under an expired contract.

A bill sponsored by state Sen. Sandy Crawford, a Republican from Buffalo, and awaiting action from Gov. Mike Kehoe, would increase the fees received by the license offices by 50%.

The transaction fee for a driver鈥檚 license or motor vehicle registration would go from $6 to $9 for the shortest period and from $12 to $18 for the longest, six years for a driver鈥檚 license and two years for a vehicle registration.

The fee on transactions is in addition to the state charge for titling and registering a vehicle and obtaining or renewing a driver鈥檚 license.

The goal is to make the offices attractive to contractors and avoid closures, Crawford said during a House committee hearing in April.

鈥淚 live in a small town, and if my license bureau were to close, I would likely have to drive 45 minutes, take a half a day to drive and get my license,鈥� Crawford said. 鈥淎nd so I would much rather pay $3 than take off half a day and drive 45 miles or 45 minutes to get this done.鈥�

There is supposed to be at least one license office in every county.

鈥淢any small agents in rural communities have stated they are closing or not rebidding upon contract expiration,鈥� said Ryan Williams, the license office contractor in Gladstone in Clay County. 鈥淗opefully this increase will help enough to keep them open and solvent.鈥�

Williams is also the legislative chair of the Missouri Association of License Offices.

The smallest office currently closed is in Unionville, in Putnam County on the Iowa border. The nearest open office is in Milan, a 50-minute round-trip. The busiest is the South Springfield License Office, which processed more than 100,000 transactions in fiscal 2024. There are two other offices within five miles.

Other closed offices are in Cuba, Willow Springs, Sedalia and Palmyra.

Financial challenges

License offices, also known as fee offices for the transaction fees they charge, at one time were awarded by governors as political patronage. Until 2005, there were a dozen state-operated offices in the largest cities.

A bidding and contract system was created in the following years. The fees have been raised twice previously this century, in 2003 and 2019. There are currently 16 license offices listed on the state purchasing website, including Caruthersville and Unionville.

鈥淲e鈥檙e the only direct interaction that most people have with the state of Missouri,鈥� Williams said.

In fiscal 2024, license offices processed almost 9 million transactions and charged $58.4 million in fees.

The Unionville office generated $28,736 in fees on 4,519 transactions. The Caruthersville office took in $119,260 from 18,747 transactions. And the South Springfield office received fees of $702,290 to process 105,516 transactions.

The reputation of license offices is not good, as seen by comments of members of the House Commerce Committee during the April hearing.

鈥淚f I had $1 for every time my office got called for the unpleasantness of the Rolla, Missouri, office, I鈥檇 be a millionaire today,鈥� said state Rep. Tara Peters, R-Rolla.

Rep. Brian Seitz, a Branson Republican, said he was glad lawmakers get special service for their license plates, which have legislative identifiers. There are two license offices in Branson.

鈥淚鈥檓 so glad that as a representative, I get to do the things right here in the Capitol that I need to do so I can continue to serve the people instead of wait an hour and a half in line without a bathroom,鈥� Seitz said.

During the hearing, Williams said the contract office system saves the state money.

鈥淚f the state took it over, it would be a considerable expense,鈥� he said.

The facilities and staffing are dependent on the amount of fees an office generates, Williams said. The contractor must meet payroll, pay rent and cover office expenses from the fee revenue.

鈥淲hen you have long wait times, that鈥檚 a direct result that we can鈥檛 afford to hire the staff that we need, or pay them or attract the staff that we need,鈥� Williams said.

Administrative issues

The issues forcing contractors to give up their offices aren鈥檛 all financial, said Terri Harris, owner of Elle Management in 狐狸视频. At one point, Harris operated nine license offices around the state and was the contractor at South Springfield when it closed.

The contract had been repeatedly extended, for short periods, leaving her with uncertainty about the future and making it difficult to hire staff, she said.

After 34 years in the business, including almost two decades managing license offices for others, health issues and working through bureaucratic and political issues with the department became too much, she said.

The fee increase in 2019 was welcome, Harris said, but came just before the COVID-19 pandemic.

鈥淭he first thing I did when we got that increase is I brought my employees鈥� wages up to where I could stay competitive,鈥� Harris said. 鈥淎fter COVID, everything changed for all employers, and my offices were large. It required a lot of employees, and frankly, the increase that I could afford to make was eaten up when you wait 17 and a half years for an increase.鈥�

When she surrendered the contract, Harris said, she was offering $20.50 an hour to employees.

鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 keep people at that pay rate,鈥� she said.

The fee increases will not induce her to return to the business of operating license offices, Harris said.