AT A CROSSROADS: Upcoming legislation could increase traffic to Jasper County DMV

If the state legislature passes two bills allowing Iowans to purchase car titles outside their own county and pay more for commercial driver’s licenses, Jasper County Treasurer Doug Bishop says it would dramatically increase his staff’s workload, force him to enroll in the CDL program and hire another employee.

“I never dreamed I’d be a truck driver,” Bishop said, “but here we are.”

HF810 is a bill regarding the registration and titling of motor vehicles by any county treasurer in the state. The proposed legislation also modifies related fees and the amount of fees retained by the county treasurers. HF828 (formerly HF521) relates to CDL driving skills tests and the fees attached them.

Although the bills are still under consideration by their respective committees, Bishop sought support from the county board of supervisors on Tuesday and asked to allocate about $59,000 from the FY22 budget in case HF810 passes and the driver’s license/motor vehicle department needs that new worker.

Jasper County Auditor Dennis Parrott said if the bill passed without the allocation, the board of supervisors would have to use the county’s reserves fund, which would pay for the new employee’s salary and benefits. By addressing the issue early, the supervisors can limit their reserves use.

The FY22 budget has not yet been approved by the board of supervisors.

Bishop told supervisors the bill for cross-county titling originated from the Iowa Automobile Dealers Association. Cross-county registrations were also considered for the bill, but Bishop said there would be no way for that to fully function because the system is set up differently.

Currently, Iowans are required to title vehicles in the county of their residence, according to documents Bishop submitted to the board of supervisors. HF810 would remove that requirement and allow Iowans to title their vehicles in any county in the state. Replacing a vehicle title is a different process.

If a person had a lost or destroyed vehicle title, they are required to apply for a replacement copy from the county where the original title was issued; the same issue arises when adding a security interest — or lien — on a vehicle. The proposed bill removes those rules and opens business to other counties.

There are limitations to the cross-county titling. HF810 does not change the requirement for a title transfer on a mobile home or manufactured home to be done in the county where the home is located, which Bishop’s documents say is due to the need to also properly account for property taxes in the home’s county.

Renewals can often be completed online, through the mail or by phone. As of now, the bill also does not change the requirement for annual registration renewals to be done in the county where the vehicle is registered. Bishop suggested this could affect funding sources.

The 4% registration renewal collections are retained by the county, which is the primary funding source for providing motor vehicle services. Allowing renewals to be done across county lives would have a significant impact on county funding. Bishop’s documents say it could be good for some but hurt others.

Ultimately, counties would be retaining more from fees if HF810 passes, but the cross-county access provides a level of uncertainty. Some customers may stay in their county, others may go to another and deprive their own region of funds.

Fees for the issuance of a car title would increase from $20 plus a $5 surcharge to $25 and a $5 surcharge. Portions received by the county would increase from $2.50 to $7.50. Bishop’s documents say the $2.50 portion has not been updated since the 1991 legislative session.

Adding a security interest to a title would increase from $10 to $15; the portion retained by the county would go up from $6 to $11. The portion retained by the county in vehicle purchase tax will increase from $1 to $6. Again, these portions were set in previous legislative sessions and had not been changed since.

The county treasurer suggested the changes to car titling would be enough to drive traffic from bigger counties to places like Jasper, Dallas and Story. Bishop said Jasper County’s driver’s license/motor vehicle department already turns away 20-30 people a week, and they come from Polk County.

“They had quite a backlog through both the derecho and COVID,” Bishop said. “They would be coming down here in droves. You basically would look at Altoona, Bondurant, Mitchellville — all of that. They would soon come here (than) to transfer their titles anywhere else.”

From his conversations with local legislators, Bishop expects the HF810 will probably pass but there is a 50-50 chance the fee changes will go along with it.

HF828 would charge $25 each for CDL walk-around, skills and drive tests, which Bishop says can take more than two hours to complete and would be a $75 altogether. If it passes, Bishop would take on CDL instruction responsibilities for Jasper County’s driver’s license/motor vehicle department.

Bishop said this bill could be a benefit to the county, albeit still require extra hours and work. But if HF810 passes — fees or not — Jasper County is “going to get flooded with people.” Hence why the county treasurer asked supervisors to set aside funds in preparation for the bill.

“I have enough money probably in this year’s budget to get us through if we were to hire somebody … mid-April (or) first part of May and get them trained so if it takes place July 1 we have somebody ready to go,” Bishop said. “But as I said that’s only if the bill passes.”

Employees in the driver’s license/motor vehicle department completed 12,000 titles last year, which Bishop described as a “down year.” Doug Cupples, chair of the Jasper County Board of Supervisors, said he’s curious how this will all shape out, expecting some places will stop getting business.

The board of supervisors ultimately supported Bishop’s budgetary request; however, Jasper County Supervisor Brandon Talsma has some reservations about hiring a new position. Bishop does, too.

“The more people we have in there the harder it is,” he said. “That’s just more work for everybody, it’s more money going out. I’m trying to be realistic here.”

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com