Not anymore because things have changed. They have streamlined the process, added the wild concept of “appointments”, and have made better use of the Internet.
One other aspect might depend on the state, or where in the state. In some areas - perhaps more rural or economically challenged, government work might be viewed as “a good job”, such that folk with a decent work ethic seek such jobs. Whereas in other areas, work such as the DMV might be considered less desirable, attracting less qualified applicants.
It was only $25 in Portland, but they would whack you for the registration renewal at the same time, which took things to about $175.
One oddity about the Soviet of Washington is that while driver’s and vehicle licenses are both within the purview of the Department of Licensing (DOL), they involve separate offices. Driver’s licenses are handled at DOL offices, while vehicle licenses are handled at county offices (here it’s the County Auditor, which farms out much of the work to subagents).
In both cases almost everything can be done online. The last time I had to visit a DOL office was when I got an enhanced (“real”) license, so I had to present the required documentation and go through an interview; I made an appointment in advance and was in and out within an hour. When it’s time to renew tabs I do it on the DOL website, then go to the subagent’s “express line” and get priority service.
Somewhere in my beachhead load of books I have one on computer development horrors, and one chapter involves the New Jersey licensing system in the 1980s. The system needed redevelopment, and through political jiggery-pokery the contract was handed to a major accounting firm which boasted that it could do the job faster using an untested fourth-generation language. When the new system was brought online (with no provision for falling back to the old one), it turned out that logging in took almost an hour, response time was measured in minutes, and overnight batch jobs took three or four days. So it could be worse.
Same in Colorado. Yes, people will walk into the license office to register their car.
When visiting a DOL office the first step is to select a transaction type at the kiosk and get a numbered ticket. The fact that “register your car” isn’t on the list should be (but probably isn’t always) a clue that they’re in the wrong place.
The subagent I go to for vehicle licensing has a sign reading something like WE DON’T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH DRIVER’S LICENSES on the wall behind the counter in large unfriendly letters. Again, probably not always a deterrent.
You are incorrect. The first step is to wander into the main waiting room, mouth open and look around like, “I don’t understand what I am seeing.”
Registration renewal here is a whole separate thing. You get an inspection done at whatever authorized mechanic you please. You get your registration renewed through your local DMV, though you can mail it in (for a while they wanted you to mail it to Albany, but you could still send it locally, which I suspected would be a lot faster plus which it helped fund the local office.)
You used to have to include a document saying that the car had passed inspection, which you got from the mechanic; but the last few times the registration form just had you sign to swear that it had passed inspection within the last year. I strongly suspect that the difference is that inspection results, at least the passes, are now sent in by computer to DMV so they’ve already got the proof; or at least they can now read the stickers from a significant distance.
If you buy a car from a dealer, the first time inspection and registration will both be handled by the dealer, so that will show up on the same bill. But the renewals you have to handle yourself.
Agreed. Here’s one big factor in that.
For many state (or federal) jobs there are not adjustments for cost-of-living by locale. Meaning that e.g. a DMV worker in the “Customer Service Clerk I” job slot is paid $18 an hour whether they’re staffing an office in rural Smallville or in bustling downtown Gotham City. The cost of living in those two places might easily differ by 50%. The wages differ by $0.
That tends to have a big impact on who applies for those two openings.