New vehicle information system still causing headaches for clerks in Jefferson County
A month after the state overhauled its vehicle information system, Louisville's motor vehicle branches continue to run into issues with the computer software, leaving some drivers unable to renew their registration before the calendar turned to February.
Jefferson County Clerk's Office spokesperson Erran Huber said it is possible vehicle owners who were unable to renew their registration due to an issue with the new KAVIS system will be hit with late fees this month after the state's January grace period expired.
Officials with Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said they have asked law enforcement officers to be lenient with those who have been traveling with an expired tag due to issues with the new system.
"It doesn't necessarily mean that they won't get ticketed, unfortunately," Heather Stout, the information technology director for the department, said during a Senate committee hearing Wednesday.
County clerk's offices throughout Kentucky were required on Jan. 1 to switch over to KAVIS, the first new information system in over 40 years. The reboot required motor vehicle branches to shut down services completely for a few days while data from the previous computer system was transferred over to the new system.
More: Backlog growing as county clerks deal with errors from new vehicle registration system
In response to various problems that had emerged, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet released a three-page document that was intended to help clerk's offices resolve their issues. The Courier Journal obtained the document from the Jefferson County Clerk's Office.
The document addresses over 40 problems county officials have encountered. For instance, the state said clerks who could not reissue license plates that had been canceled in the old system would have to contact the KAVIS support desk in order to get the issue resolved.
"We have heard from our customers that there are instances in which they have had to come back (to the clerk's office) because bugs in the system are preventing people from being able to renew their vehicles and pay their taxes altogether," Huber said.
In another instance, if a change needed to be made to a vehicle's registration after an application was already submitted, the clerk could not issue or reissue a title because of a bug in the KAVIS system. The customer would have to return to the clerk's office once the issue is resolved.
Huber said Jefferson County officials do not know when all of the issues with the new system will be resolved. There has been some progress though, as the state was able to wipe out all "zombie taxes," which are charges on vehicles that a customer no longer owns.
Motor vehicle branches in Louisville have only been able to process half of their usual amount of customers, which Huber said could have a "cascading effect" on funding if issues with KAVIS continue to arise. Most of the office's revenue depends on the fees collected from customer transactions, Huber said.
"If these issues continue in the long term, then we're going to run into problems and so are a lot of other folks, " Huber said.
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Jim Gray said during a Senate hearing Wednesday that the previous system was difficult to maintain because of its age, but also because it was difficult to track down records tied to a specific owner, since it could not sort information by customer. The new system can do this function, which makes it more user-friendly, he said.
Even with its flaws, the previous system has thus far proven to be more efficient than the new one in Jefferson County, Huber said.
Reach reporter Leo Bertucci at lbertucci@gannett.com or @leober2chee on X, formerly known as Twitter
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Issues with KAVIS system continue to slow down vehicle registrations
