Bureau of Motor Vehicles on St. Croix Photo Credit: V.I. CONSORTIUM
Bureau of Motor Vehicles employees will have a permanent facility to work from before the end of 2024, according to BMV Director Barbara McIntosh, speaking during the bureau's budget hearing Friday.
“It took us six months to build St. Thomas…this one is bigger. So hopefully before the end of middle of next year, we should have a permanent home,” she said in response to a question from Senator Diane Capeheart.
Ms. McIntosh appeared before the 35th Legislature’s Committee on Budget, Appropriations and Finance to defend her agency’s proposed allocation for fiscal year 2024. Coming as it did on the heels of a flooring collapse in one of the temporary trailers currently being used as office space for BMV employees on St. Croix, the topic of employee safety and a suitable work environment was a key one for the discussion.
Ms. McIntosh said mitigation plans were already being carried out. “The employees working in the office trailers in the St. Croix office were relocated to other areas on the property, and a few will be teleworking because of the ongoing issues identified in the trailers,” she told lawmakers. Three spaces have been identified, Ms. McIntosh said, adding that BMV is working with the Department of Property and Procurement, as well as the Office of Management and Budget, on locating and paying for a new office location for the St. Croix BMV branch. Senator Donna Frett-Gregory, chair of the Finance Committee, suggested that the agency approach FEMA for assistance with rental and other costs associated with the temporary trailers.
There was no discussion of new space for employees on St. John, however. Instead, a total of $60,000 has been allocated as capital expenditure for improvements to the office location on that island.
Despite expressing their concern about current working conditions for staff on St. Croix, lawmakers generally praised Ms. McIntosh for improvements in the operations of the BMV, and the level of service delivery. During her testimony, Ms. McIntosh emphasized enhancements to customer experience through various technology integrations, training and communication channels, noting the drastic reduction in waiting times, and adding new customer service tools — all of which has contributed to the improvement in the quality of service the bureau is able to provide. “The average waiting time in each office has been reduced drastically from an average of four hours to an average of 15 minutes, except for the last three days of the month,” Ms. McIntosh noted.
These enhancements will continue, said the director. "Our long term vision for the BMV is automation of many of our most cumbersome and time-consuming processes," she said.
However, several challenges still remain. Licenses and ID cards issued by the Virgin Islands are still not able to be used in the Department of Homeland Security’s “Real ID” program at various airports. But that’s a problem with DHS machines, said McIntosh, not with the quality of the cards that the territory is producing. “Our Real ID?? is indeed real, as was determined by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security,” Ms. McIntosh said. “The issue is the machines that are being used by the Department of Homeland Security to verify licenses and IDs still cannot read some licenses and ID cards that were issued by the Virgin Islands and several other states and territories.” BMV officials met with their DHS counterparts earlier this year, who advised them that updates would occur within the next three months. DHS will also instruct airport supervisors on correct manual verification procedures, in order to streamline the process in the interim, Ms. McIntosh told lawmakers.
The issuance of commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) was also being hamstrung at the federal level. In response to an inquiry by Senator Novelle Francis, Ms. McIntosh responded that it was a “Washington conversation…we’re not allowed CDL.”
In total, the BMV is requesting just over $6.1 million across three funds. “The general fund and the BMV fund appropriations will be used for personnel services,” she explained, while the appropriation from the personal license plate fund “will be used for supplies, rent, utilities, maintenance and operating expenses." Grant funding will be utilized for various projects in the upcoming fiscal year, including integration with insurance providers, implementation of a point system, and a paper reduction initiative.
As she closed her testimony on Friday afternoon, McIntosh vowed to “continue to work more efficiently, effectively and economically to build customer value while simultaneously being mindful to take equal care of both our employees and our customers.” With no mention of her injured worker, or the union’s claim that staff were forced back to work in unsafe conditions following last week’s protest, the director indicated her agency’s belief that “employees that are well taken care of will ensure customers are well taken care of.”
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