Wooster BMV facing possible closure; private operator sought to take over

WOOSTER - It was a decision Jarra Underwood said kept her awake at night — and still does.

Since 1999, the Wayne County auditor has been the deputy registrar for the Bureau of Motor Vehicles at 200 Vanover St. but, due to declining revenue, Underwood decided she will end that contract Aug. 3, leaving the local BMV's future in limbo.

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Nick Frost, administrator for field operations of the Ohio BMV, which oversees the state's BMVs, said the ball is already rolling on bringing in a replacement for the Wooster License Bureau.

Most likely that will be a private owner or nonprofit organization — Wayne County is one of only four of Ohio's 88 counties with auditors as BMV deputy registrars. A few others, such as Holmes County, are run by the clerk of courts, but that is mostly for counties with smaller populations like Holmes, which, according to the 2020 census, has 43,954 people. Wayne County's population is 116,063.

"We don't want to interrupt service to the community," Frost said. "There is already an agency there, so if the county is willing to lease it, we hope to get a replacement there.

"If everything goes well, there won't be any interruption of service," Frost added.

If it doesn't go as hoped, it would close. Frost said that happened recently in Streetsboro, but he doesn't expect that to be the case in Wooster.

Commissioner Ron Amstutz said the county is more than willing to lease the space to a new BMV owner.

"It's right beside the title office where people are often doing both," Amstuz said. "For the convenience of the public, it should be located there."

Underwood's decision to relinquish registrar duties recently announced

Underwood's decision was announced Wednesday, July 20, in a news release and to the Wayne County BMV employees in a letter saying their jobs were being abolished on Aug. 3.

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"It makes me sad because this was a good service we provided the community and it provided county jobs," said Underwood, adding it is not part of her statutory duties as the county auditor and she doesn't receive a salary for it. "In the old days, I was able to be profitable and transfer money to the general fund. I stopped doing that when I saw the revenues going down, so I had to keep a carryover balance."

However, carryover funds are no longer at a sufficient level to reliably fill the gap between future revenue and operating expenses, according to the news release.

“If I would have to go to the general fund for money to operate the office, it would create a burden to the taxpayers,” Underwood said in the release. “I can’t justify continuing to operate the BMV and allow that to occur.”

While the agency has had profits the past three years of $12,000 (2019), $21,000 (2020) and $28,000 (2021), deficits of $51,710 in 2017 and $24,117 in 2018 were difficult to recover, said Underwood, who added if there were going to be any more profitable years in the near future, they probably weren't going to be very much.

She said expenditures are $500 over revenue for 2022 so far, and after making $28,000 in 2021, she had a $24,000 payout to longtime employee Bonnie Alfred, who retired in March 2022. Underwood said another employee will retire on Aug. 1, leaving three employees.

"It's a sad situation," said Vanessa Troyer, who has worked at the Wooster License Bureau for four years. "We've been very emotional the last few days. We don't fault Jarra for this. It's just been tough all around.

"We're sad, but we're not mad," Troyer added. "We will figure it out."

Troyer said the state prefers that she and the other two employees stay on their jobs, however, she said, she doesn't want to work for a private business that most likely won't offer benefits. She said she already did that for 12 years at the Medina BMV before coming to Wooster.

Underwood offered to help the three employees find other jobs, including ones with the county, Troyer said, and Frost said he would like to see Troyer and the other two remain for a new owner.

"One reason we want it to happen smoothly is we don't want employees to leave," Frost said. "A new contractor needs them and their experience. They are very technical jobs."

Frost said another BMV could also run the one in Wooster at the same time, but, he said, it would be difficult for BMVs in the area, which includes the one in nearby Orrville, a smaller, private BMV that has been in business for 27 years.

Underwood: Several reasons for the decline in revenue at Wooster License Bureau

There are several reasons for the decline in revenue, Underwood said.

Due to more online and mail-in transactions, especially since COVID, the office's main source of revenue, transaction fees, have dipped. The state legislature increasing the fees from $1.50 to $3.50 in 2019 helped bring profits the past three years, but Underwood doesn't see that helping enough for future profits.

The state BMV also recently installed new self-serve kiosks at nine deputy registrar and retail locations to renew and print registration cards and validation stickers, several accessible 24 hours a day. They will serve as a pilot program as the BMV plans to install more in the future, according to a recent Columbus Dispatch article about the kiosks.

More complicated federally-compliant driver licenses and identification cards, which were introduced a few years ago, take longer to process, resulting in her employees not processing as many transactions.

As county auditor, Underwood said she is required to provide health insurance, paid vacation, sick time, paid holidays and contribute to P.E.R.S. (Public Employees Retirement System) for full-time employees, something a private registrar doesn’t have to follow.

County auditor has tried to make the BMV operation successful

Underwood said she has tried to run the office with some part-time workers, but they don't stay long or ask to move up to full time, so that hasn't worked to cut down costs.

During a two-month shutdown in 2020 because of the pandemic, Underwood said, she was still able to pay her BMV employees, mainly by working on dealer transactions.

When BMVs were allowed to reopen, Underwood said, a door registration person was required, which the commissioners helped pay for with CARES Act money.

"We have noticed the great service the county auditor has provided to the citizens of the county and understand the pressures delivering on that," Amstutz said. "We appreciate what she's done. Hardly any county auditors are doing it — it's just not very conducive for that."

Underwood has bid on four- or five-year contracts with the Ohio BMV to continue serving as the deputy registrar in Wooster. Her latest contract stipulates she is supposed to give the Ohio BMV a 90-day notice of resignation, but that can be negotiated, which it was, she said, adding she was worried the employees would all leave during the 90-day notice before bringing in a new owner.

The two-week notice she gave the BMV employees relating to abolishing a county job is prescribed by the Wayne County policy manual, she said, adding it is another complicated issue when a county official becomes the deputy registrar versus a private registrar.

“Hopefully, this decision may open the opportunity for a private business or nonprofit to take over as deputy registrar," Underwood said. "I am optimistic (the Ohio BMV) will find someone to take this agency over."

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Wooster BMV facing possible closure; private operator sought