Drivers license office at risk for closure

If the state Sunset Commission and the Department of Public Safety’s current plans make it through next year’s legislative session, Hays and Caldwell counties will be left without DPS drivers license offices.

The Texas Association of Counties announced that during its review of DPS, the Sunset Commission recommended that DPS “develop and implement a plan to close inefficient driver license offices.” DPS staff then created a list of 87 driver license offices across the state to be considered for closure. The list includes the offices in San Marcos and Lockhart (though the Lockhart office could remain open with a county employee staffing it). Other offices on the list include Llano, Lampasas, Dalhart, Fort Worth East, Austin-Capitol, Brady, Plano, Denton, Galveston, Snyder, Sweetwater, Taylor, Hallettsville and Port Lavaca. If approved, the closures would leave 78 Texas counties, including Hays and Caldwell, with no driver license offices.

The Sunset Commission is set to consider recommendations at their meeting on Aug. 29-30.

Of the seven primary acceptable forms of identification required for voting in Texas, four are issued at DPS offices: driver licenses, identification cards, election identification certificates and handgun licenses. (Other acceptable forms of identification are passports, military identification cards that include a photo and U.S. citizenship certificates that include a photo.)

The Daily Record sent questions to the DPS Media and Communications Office, including why the San Marcos office made the list, given the rapid growth in the city and in Hays County; where people would go who need to get a driver’s license or identification in order to vote; and what criteria DPS staff used to decide which offices were “inefficient.”

Of the seven primary acceptable forms of identification required for voting in Texas, four are issued at DPS offices: driver licenses, identification cards, election identification certificates and handgun licenses.

DPS responded: “It is important to understand that discussions are in the preliminary stages. The Sunset Advisory Commission Staff Report from April included the following finding: ‘The department has not implemented plans to close or consolidate driver license offices with low demand.’ In response, DPS developed a plan and identified potential offices for closure. The Sunset Commission, which will meet next week, will ultimately determine which recommendations are forwarded for consideration by the full Legislature when it convenes in January of 2019. Since this issue remains under consideration, DPS is limited in the information we can provide at this time.”

DPS later issued a statement on the matter, reiterating, “The Texas Department of Public Safety is not implementing any plan for mass closures of driver license offices across Texas. … DPS will take no action on this significant staff recommendation without direction from state leadership and the Legislature.”

DPS also stated, “The demand for Texas driver license services continues to significantly increase as the state’s population continues to grow dramatically. The department is committed to continue working with the Legislature during the upcoming session to obtain the resources needed to meet this growing demand and provide the quality customer service that Texans expect and deserve.”

Officials voice concerns

Objections to the proposed closures have already arisen. Jim Allison, general counsel for the County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas, has submitted a letter to the commission asking its members to reject the recommended closures.

“If the 2,500 annual customers from the each of the 78 sole county offices travel 100 miles round trip to obtain this service, at a cost of $0.50 per mile, they will incur $3,900,000 in additional transportation costs for this service,” the letter reads in part. “This does not include the cost of lost productivity and wages for the travel time, highway maintenance costs, and safety concerns. If driver license services were being operated at a loss, it might be possible to justify some of these closures. However, in fiscal year 2017, DPS collected almost $405 million in various driver license fees and expended only $149 million on its license and identification services.”

Hays County Precinct 1 Commissioner Debbie Gonzales Ingalsbe said the county commissioners have not taken a stance on the issue. However, she called it “very concerning, especially for individuals who are already having a difficult time getting to the local DPS office.”

“Last month, I shared my concern with Krista Kyle, deputy chief of staff with the Office of Sen. Judith Zaffirini, who, along with other legislators, have sent a letter to the Sunset Commission, opposing the closures,” Ingalsbe said.

Zaffirini and 23 other legislators sent a letter to Sunset Commission Chair Sen. Brian Birdwell noting that closing these offices would require many Texans to drive several counties away to receive services and that the presence of DPS offices grants a level of security to communities.

The legislators’ letter also notes the effects the closures would have on the same rural residents that contribute to major economic sectors.

“The obstacles facing our farming, ranching and oil and gas industry are numerous and varied in our global economy,” the letter reads in part. “For the state to create one more unnecessary obstacle in an already challenging environment does not represent the Texas we espouse to the world.”

The letter states that the savings anticipated from the closure of the 87 offices would fund more services in the larger mega centers in urban areas and that doing so harms rural residents in an attempt to cater to urban areas.

“Texas has an opportunity to reaffirm that no one citizen is more valued than another, and we should not make one citizen whole at the expense of another one,” the letter concludes.

The Sunset Commission is a 12-member body that reviews state agencies to recommend abolishment or streamlining on a two-year cycle. DPS is among the agencies under review this year.

The public can offer input on the sunset process on the Sunset Texas website.

rblackburn@sanmarcosrecord.com

Twitter: @arobingoestweet