Nearly 150 new North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles license examiners graduated on Wednesday to join the ranks of a state agency trying to lessen the load on an overworked and understaffed workforce.
The graduation is good news for the up-and-coming employees and significant for DMV customers hoping for a better experience at driver's license offices.
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Gov. Josh Stein and NCDMV Commissioner Paul Tine were part of the ceremony at Nash Community College and celebrated the step forward. Stein talked about the mini-budget he signed into law that loosened DMV rules, allowing more people to renew their driver's licenses online.
In the fall, Tine said the agency learned that customers were waiting about 2 hours and 45 minutes on average. Since Tine took over in the spring, the NCDMV has implemented better hardware such as scanners and legislative changes for ID renewals.
Most importantly, there are goals for getting more people working at DMV offices, which have support within the state legislature.
"We've got lots more work to do," said Tine. "We've got to improve our processes, we've got to improve our website to make it easier for our folks to engage with us. There's all sorts of things we need to do, but we're up to the challenge."
Since October, nearly 80,000 people have been able to use the online portal to either get their license or renew it. That's when the governor signed the mini-budget into law, which loosened DMV rules, allowing more people to renew online. In August, when the mini-budget passed and funds opened up for 40 new driver license examiners, Tine said Gov. Stein told him to get it done in 30 days.
In August, State Auditor Dave Boliek's office published a 435-page report with recommendations on how to make the agency more efficient.
