OK Tag Agencies are Changing

[sherrick13]

I work with the OTC a lot. The IRS is WAY better. I'm thrilled someone else is taking over. I would bet most tag agencies are too. The media isn't going to report that though and is just spinning this as another anti Stitt story.

 

[Catt57]

That in bold letters:

Let me add to the concern. Service Oklahoma is a new branch of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services. That OMES (wife pronounces it oh-mess) is the agency that came about when the state decided to consolidate the IT divisions of all the agencies into one agency instead of each agency having their own It divisions.

In honesty, the consolidation didn't really work well, and with the screw-up of purchasing through them and "State Finance," the wife decided to retire early. She had initially told her boss that she would stay until she was 65, but "they" messed up the process of bidding and purchasing to the point that she couldn't get anything done efficiently, so she retired at 62. (Her boss went from the OSBI to be the head over the state law enforcement agencies at OMES, so she became the "interim" OSBI director of IT.)

Now, with all that said, OMES is largely loaded with IT people, so time will tell whether they can do a better job of maintaining the computer systems for the licensing and tag agency system than what the DMV and Oklahoma Tax Commission did.

EDIT: The company taking some of the work from the state is NTT Data near Sara Road and W. Reno. If I remember right, they have taken over the technical support for laptops and desktops for the state.
On another note, OMES also farmed out some services for the state to a non state company. (At the moment, the name of that company escapes my memory, but it is in a building out near West Reno near either Morgan Road or Sara Road. Some years back that building was started by a fiber optic company that quit the building when it was still just a skeleton of a building, and this new company took up the property and finished the building and moved in.

Your edit is confusing to me. But that "skeleton" building and the one NTTData is located in are the same building.

That's the company I work for but supporting a different client.

 

[1shott]

OKLAHOMA CITY — Many of Oklahoma’s tag agencies will have a new look by he end of 2022 after lawmakers recently approved an overhaul of the system that handles the issuance of driver’s licenses and motor vehicle registrations and titles.

In a bid to improve access to driver’s licenses, reduce long lines at tag agencies and increase consistency and customer service, all tag agents who wish to remain in business will be required to franchise their current locations under the Service Oklahoma name and become “licensed operators,” said state Sen. Chuck Hall, R-Perry.

All licensed operators must offer every service required by Service Oklahoma, meet a customer satisfaction matrix and remain open a set number of hours.


House Bill 3419 creates the model that merges the licensing and motor vehicle services currently performed by the Department of Public Safety and Oklahoma Tax Commission into one division. Driver’s license oversight will switch to Service Oklahoma starting Nov. 1, and motor vehicle services follow beginning Jan. 1.

The vision over the next few years is to add additional services to all Service Oklahoma locations, including the ability to purchase turnpike passes and state records, including birth and death certificates.

“You shouldn’t have to drive to Oklahoma City to get those services,” Hall said. “You ought to be able to get it at a licensed operator for Service Oklahoma right there in the district,” he said.

Hall said the past few years have created a perfect storm of inefficiencies, noting the existing tag agent system was squeezed by the federally mandated Real ID roll out, COVID-19-related closures and budget cuts.

“We also discovered that the expectations of Oklahomans for that delivery system were rising, so we saw an opportunity to drive efficiencies and ensure, hopefully, some long-term economic viability of tag agents,” Hall said.

State law requires at least one licensed operator in every Oklahoma county, Hall said.

Tag agents who refuse to franchise have the option to continue as licensed motor agents through December 2025. At that point, they’ll have to give up their license or convert to a licensed operator, Hall said. In exchange for franchising, licensed operators will be able to sell their businesses at fair market prices or back to Service Oklahoma at a statutorily-set fee. Currently, the Tax Commission decides who takes over a business when a tag agent retires and at what price, Hall said.

He believes over 90% of current tag agents will convert to the licensed operator model.


Regional DPS locations will be transformed into Service Oklahoma shops and continue to offer driving tests and licenses.

Service Oklahoma locations will also offer limited appointment scheduling, but plan to transition their services to mostly walk-ins. Hall said Service Oklahoma will not allow its licensed operators to charge for appointments like some current tag agents do.

“We were all shocked that they could charge an appointment fee,” Hall said. “That was never the intent of the Legislature, to create an environment where citizens were charged to get a service from the state through an appointment.”

Kate Vesper, a spokeswoman for Gov. Kevin Stitt, said the governor found it unacceptable that basic state services that should have taken minutes were taking days or even months.

“Gov. Stitt launched Service Oklahoma to fulfill a critical need and to raise the standard for how the state served Oklahomans,” she said. “The improvements in access to driver’s license and vehicle registration are just the beginning for how the state plans to provide best-in-class customer services.”

State Rep. Dell Kerbs, R-Shawnee, the House author, said the ultimate goal is to ensure there’s a better service for both tag agents and consumers.

He said one advantage to the new system is that it won’t allow tag agents to pick and choose what services to offer anymore. He said there are between 30 and 40 tag agencies that don’t offer driver’s license services.

Kerbs said some Oklahomans have to travel to Oklahoma City to complete their business. Legislators believe the new plan will make it easier for constituents to access services in their local communities.

“The first step is customer service, being able to get this and start getting these products and processes done faster,” Kerbs said.

https://www.cnhinews.com/oklahoma/article_4bb33154-07a3-11ed-84c1-3f3c52d191d1.html

I do not see how any of that is a bad thing.


Having consistent services offered through out the state is a positive move.

 

[SoonerP226]

I do not see how any of that is a bad thing.


Having consistent services offered through out the state is a positive move.

Offering consistent services may not be a bad thing, but creating a "super agency" to do it is a terrible idea--especially when it's part of an agency that has already demonstrated a proclivity for accreting power to itself.

 

[TerryMiller]

Your edit is confusing to me. But that "skeleton" building and the one NTTData is located in are the same building.

That's the company I work for but supporting a different client.

Sorry about the "EDIT" confusion, but that is my fault, but not my intent. I actually meant for the "edit" to be UNDER the last paragraph, but I failed to look at where the mouse cursor was located when I hit the "save" button.

I went back to that comment on page one of this forum and fixed the location of the "edit."

 

[WoodsCraft]

I can tell you I hate the changes they made to date. You used to be able to walk in to a Tag Agent and get your DL same day. Now you go and do the DL renewal they mail it to you . That is not a process improvement.

 

[sherrick13]

I can tell you I hate the changes they made to date. You used to be able to walk in to a Tag Agent and get your DL same day. Now you go and do the DL renewal they mail it to you . That is not a process improvement.

Is that for all of them or just the Real ID?

 

[WoodsCraft]

Is that for all of them or just the Real ID?

All of them I don’t have a REAL ID and just renewed a month ago

They take the photo and the money and print you a temporary DL / receipt.

 

[sherrick13]

All of them I don’t have a REAL ID and just renewed a month ago

They take the photo and the money and print you a temporary DL / receipt.

Kind of weird, but didnt bother me that much. I'm betting the dont want multiple DL manufacturers.

 

[GC7]

I do not see how any of that is a bad thing.


Having consistent services offered through out the state is a positive move.

My concern is that most tag agencies right now seem to fulfill their purpose just fine. (yeah some locations are worse than others but that's why you can shop around)

The news articles are not selling me on how the tag agencies will get even better under the new model.