Multiple senators shared their constituents' concerns about long wait times to receive vehicle registration from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles after submitting their documents with Barbara Jackson-McIntosh, B.M.V director, during a budget hearing on Wednesday.
Senate President Donna Frett-Gregory asked “what’s the timeline on documents submitted in the lock boxes, we are getting complaints that over two weeks they haven't heard anything.”
Ms. Jackson-McIntosh said that in St Thomas they are “four days behind in processing”, In St. Croix it is one day and in St. John it is “in realtime.” Two of the issues that the B.M.V has been experiencing are that people are not responding to phone calls about missing documentation or “they just don’t show.”
Senator Kurt Vialet asked if there was someone checking registration forms before they are placed in drop boxes to which the B.M.V. director said they “just hired a receptionist to do that.”
Later on the hearing Mr. Vialet said “Going forward we need to re-open, people need to drop the documents, back we need to stop using dropbox... at some point we got to catch up.
“This is the perfect excuse for crime, because you don’t have a license plate and it don’t make a difference, you can just say I didn’t get one from D.M.V., you can don’t have your registration I didn't get one from D.M.V. I went down I sent it they are process it, so we have all the cars driving illegally.”
Towards the closing of the hearing Mr. Vialet asked “when do you think will be back to a one day turnaround” for processing licenses and registration. Ms. McInstosh said “we were hoping when we move.”
Mr. Vialet then asked “have you set a goal for moving, same day?” and the director said “Moving and same day in St. Thomas is September 1 and in St. Croix is December” but “St. Croix same day is probably before we move anyway.”
Senator Kenneth Gittens said he was “inundated with a number of phone calls with regards to license, registrations and even ID’s. I have seniors calling saying that they have been waiting for an ID since February, we are in July.
Ms. Jackson-McIntosh said that the driver licenses wait times are not long and to schedule an appointment. In St. Croix the wait is two weeks out, St. Thomas is three days and St. John is “realtime.”
Mr. Vialet asked if the Bureau Of Motor Vehicles had been in contact with the federal government about a problem Virgin Islanders have been experiencing is that the V.I. Real Id, which is that it does not scan on all federal scanners.
Ms. Jackson-McIntosh said they have and explained that the federal government does not know when the issue will be resolved and that is an issue that is not unique to just the Virgin Islands. “They asked us all us to send our cards so that they can make sure that they can get a scanner that is germane to everyone… we don’t know when it will be done.”
She listed Oklahoma, Nebraska, parts of Florida and other territories as other places that are experiencing a similar issue.
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