Have you renewed your driver’s license recently?
No?
Well, you’re in for a treat, or maybe it will be a shock. I arrived at the government center to accomplish the task at 10 a.m. Monday morning. There was an outside line of only four people ahead of me, where a very pleasant and efficient fellow discovered what each taxpayer needed and directed them to the right place with the right information.
I was the only one in that line renewing my license, so I thought, “This is going to be a piece of cake.” But I waited outside for 45 minutes until my number was called, was ushered inside to wait in another line with four people ahead of me. Each of us five hopefuls was seated in a chair and told to move to the next chair to our right as the line moved. Of the five service windows available, four were open, but only three were manned. One fellow, who was at a service window when I arrived inside was still there 40 minutes later when I finally arrived at a window. The average time for each applicant was 25 minutes.
There were three to four employees on duty at any one time, scurrying around and working hard – no fooling around. At lunch time, half the windows were closed, as employees rotated their lunch breaks.
According to the C of H website (human services) driver’s license clerks are at pay grade SR 11 or 12, which is approximately $2,600 per month. Adding medical and workers compensation insurance, vacation and sick leave benefits, and employer’s taxes the salary burden is likely about 65 percent, bringing the per hour cost to approximately $24.
It is not possible to estimate the county’s cost of administering licenses since each applicant may choose a different expiration date. The cost for a license is $10 for every two years.
However, the county’s cost of servicing the eight applicants I observed was at least $175. The math is 109 minutes times four employees times $24 per hour. I wonder how much money would be saved by adding a year to every license expiration? And how much lost work time, inconvenience and grumbling would be avoided?
P.S. My father-in-law turned 99 last July in California and renewed his license for five years. In Arizona, an original license is good until age 65, but requires vision tests every 12 years. That could mean a 16 year old is issued a license valid for 49 years.
Howard Conant is a resident of Keauhou
My Turn opinions are those of the writer and not of West Hawaii Today
