Jasper County DMV prepares for new customers

Expecting an influx of out-of-county customers to seek services from Jasper County’s driver’s license and motor vehicle department, the treasurer asked the board of supervisors on Tuesday, June 1 to increase the pay of three employees who will be taking on additional responsibilities.

Jasper County Treasurer Doug Bishop presented the board with a memorandum of understanding, authorizing a $2.50 per hour increase in pay to Ericka Rhone, Heather Ross and Heather Preston starting July 1, 2021. The board unanimously approved the document.

The addition of commercial driver’s license testing and cross department/balancing issues has led to three employees taking on more responsibilities, the memorandum stated. Bishop also reserves the right to adjust the classification and pay of these positions based on future job reassignment.

Rather than adding another position entirely and thus requiring the county to set aside additional funds for benefits, Bishop said the driver’s license/motor vehicle department will instead rebalance its office and he expects everybody to “step up” a little bit.

“We’re going to handle it that way for now,” he said. “That will take us into the next budget year. Of course we have the move coming up, I believe, in May or June next year … This takes place in January. That would give us an opportunity to kind of monitor what’s coming in, see if there’s any increase.”

When construction of the new administration building is complete, staff from the driver’s license/motor vehicle department will move in to the office space alongside about a dozen other departments. Construction of the administration building is estimated to begin July 1 and end by spring 2022.

State legislators this year introduced Iowa House Bill 870 (HF870), which allows for the registration and titling of motor vehicles to be conducted by any county treasurer. Counties who provide the registration and titling services will retain more from fees, but could deprive other regions of funds.

In March, Bishop told supervisors the changes to car titling could be enough to drive traffic from bigger counties to places like Jasper, Dallas and Story. He expects people from Altoona, Bondurant and Mitchellville — all located in Polk County — will be “coming down here in droves.”

HF870 was last addressed by lawmakers in mid-April and has not been signed into law. However, Bishop said the Iowa Department of Transportation decided it is “going to follow through on administrative rule and do it that way for contiguous counties,” effective January 2022.

Seven counties border Jasper County: Mahaska, Marion, Marshall, Polk, Poweshiek, Story and Warren.

“So anybody that touches us will be able to come here — as of January — to get a title transfer,” Bishop said.

Jasper County Auditor Dennis Parrott said Bishop is fortunate to have “good, talented people” working in the driver’s license/motor vehicle department. Even though more work is expected of them, Parrott said “it’s going to save the county money by doing that.” It’s just the way to go, the auditor said.

After supervisors approved the memorandum of understanding, Bishop also asked their permission to begin conversations with DMACC over the use of a parking lot he said will be beneficial for bus and motorcycle driving tests.

Recently, Bishop decided to take on CDL instruction responsibilities. Jasper County will start with buses, Class B CDLs and eventually Class A CDLs. With the department eventually moving to the new administration office, Bishop said he’s been looking for lots or more space to conduct CDL testing.

Bishop claimed the elevated lot located next to the Centre for Arts & Artists is unused and would be a perfect fit. Jasper County could form a 28E Agreement with DMACC to utilize the lot, he argued. Supervisors were receptive to Bishop pursuing the matter.

Bishop said local entities are excited for this department to begin CDL testing.

“As we all know, a lot of people don’t want to be a truck driver anymore. It’s a lot of hoops to jump through. So if we can make one less hoop and make it easier for them, then I think it’s a good service — let alone the farmers,” he said.

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