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A surge in car sales paired with frequent state software outages and staffing shortages have left the Dallas County Tax Office inundated with a backlog of thousands of requests for vehicle registration and title documents.
“I don’t even have enough employees to serve all of the public,” Dallas County Tax Assessor John Ames said. “The tax office is struggling.”
Ames said office staff are doing everything possible to overcome the delays.
“I just ask the public to have patience with us,” he told .
The county tax office reported more than four times the average amount – 12,000 – of title transactions in processing as of this week.
The delays are affecting motorists and dealerships, leaving Ames’ staff with tough choices.
“Do you help the public member standing right in front of you, or do you come over here and help the dealer that just dropped off 100 titles? We need to find a way to balance that,” Ames said.
Car dealerships have been busy in recent months.
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The stalled car sales during the beginning of the pandemic left a “pent-up consumer demand” for vehicles, and a semiconductor shortage in vehicles has slowed new car production, creating a higher used car demand. The average used car price has been marked up by 10 percent.
Comparing the first quarter of 2022 against last year, the tax office reported a 40 percent increase in processed vehicle titles with 289,405 titles.
Karen Phillips is the general counsel and executive vice president of the Texas Automobile Dealers Association. She said these title and registration delays aren’t unique to Dallas County.
Once a car dealer finalizes an agreement with a customer, it provides a 60-day paper, temporary license plates for the vehicle. Phillips said car dealerships across Texas are requesting temporary, 30-day extension paper license plates, because more time is needed to process the vehicle title and registration.
Customers are starting to feel frustrated by the wait, she said. Out-of-state car owners transferring or selling their cars feel the biggest delays, an increasing problem driven by Dallas County’s booming growth.
“We are working diligently to work with tax offices, but the staffing shortage is really hurting us and making it a tremendous challenge,” Phillips said.
The Dallas County Tax Office budget funds 285 positions, 30 of which are unfilled and 12 filled with new employees now in training, Ames said. Once a month, employees volunteer to work overtime on a Saturday just to try to catch up on titles and vehicle registration.
“We have more staff allocated to us, but we can’t hire them. We are really struggling,” Ames said.
The office has prioritized recruiting efforts, attended job fairs and is now considering hourly pay increases. Ames said the office is looking for full-time, part-time, and seasonal employees.
Software outages
The State of Texas requires all vehicle registration to be done through its Registration and Title System software program.
The software was originally created in the early ‘90s to register and title vehicles and update motor vehicle records across the state’s 254 county tax assessor-collector offices.
The current web-based version of RTS was implemented in 2015, but continual updates aren’t enough to overcome increased demands. System slowness and downtime have impacted users’ ability to complete transactions, the state Department of Motor Vehicles told The News.
“Growing demand on the system and aging technology have created challenges that require attention to ensure proper connectivity and responsiveness of the system,” DMV’s spokesperson Adam Shaivitz said in an email. “When issues are identified, they are addressed as expediently as possible.”
The tax office has “frequent” software outages that can shut down vehicle title and registration processing for a single or every office, Ames said. A single outage can cost the office hours of work.
“Not only are we short-staffed, not only are we getting more titles than we have ever seen before from dealerships, now when their system goes down, it really hampers our productivity,” Ames said.
In response to questions regarding the delays, the state DMV said that the system was available 99.7 percent of the time last year.
But Shaivitz also said the DMV recognizes that increased volume has placed a greater demand on the state’s software. Asked why the DMV is continuing to use this system, he said it must be maintained until a viable replacement can be implemented.
Ames and Phillips hope that the Legislature will fund a new system in the upcoming session.
“We need a brand new system that works,” Ames said.
“A new system would make the process more expeditious,” Phillips said.
Texas Department of Motor Vehicles staff are working to develop a replacement, and want to include input from county tax assessor-collectors and other stakeholders to ensure the future software resolves existing and future issues, Shaivitz said. Potential future costs have yet to be determined.
Until systemic problems are addressed, the county tax assessor said the public can help shorten turnaround times.
Ames asks the public to opt for online vehicle registration and property tax payments instead of visiting the offices. Online requests are quicker for staff to complete, Ames said. Cars can also be registered at neighborhood businesses like grocery stores.
“The only thing you have to do in-person is transfer a car title or pick up your disabled placard,” he said. “So please, go online.”
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