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February 28, 2012 12:37 AM UTC

City DMV Employees Exempt from Furlough Days. Should They be?

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  • by: Colorado Pols

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock today announced that Denver’s 46 DMV employees will stay at work while other city employees will be forced to take furlough days.

Fox 31’s Eli Stokols has the story:

DENVER – Mayor Michael Hancock announced Monday that workers at the city’s Motor Vehicle offices will be exempt from taking four furlough days like other city employees.

It’s an effort to ensure that DMV offices remain open and accessible and, to the extent possible, to limit wait times and improve customer service.

“I am dedicated to making Denver better, faster and stronger,” Mayor Hancock said in a press release. “Keeping our DMV open during furlough days is not just about cutting down wait times. It’s about being more efficient, more effective and providing the highest level of service to our customers, the neighborhoods, residents and businesses of Denver.”

Hancock’s administration is reviewing all DMV operations as part of a Peak Performance initiative that is gathering data in an effort to make government agencies more efficient.

Denver’s four DMV offices, which employ a total of 46 people, process motor vehicle registrations, titles, temporary permits and license plates for City and County of Denver residents.

Nobody likes an hours-long wait to renew their license plates, after all, so the DMV becomes the quintessential example for many taxpayers of government inefficiency. In keeping DMV employees at work even while other city employees will be forced to stay at home, Hancock may be trying to keep “government running like a business” by ensuring that lines are that much shorter and nobody’s enraged when they drive to the DMV only to find out that it’s closed.

The problem with Hancock using the DMV to show that the city can “do more with less” is that taxpayers probably should be angry that the DMV is closed. They should be disappointed that the city doesn’t have enough money to keep city services running. In that disappointment is a lesson in taxation: tax revenues are what keep the city going. No citizen sees any purpose to paying more in taxes if their city is able to, say, keep the DMV running smoothly based off current revenues. But they will be able to connect their low tax rates with the fact that the city can’t provide services like it used to if something like a DMV closure on any given Friday is framed properly.

By furloughing DMV employees, Hancock could’ve made the case that the city simply needs more money to provide basic services. He could’ve linked taxation with government service, a connection that’s most visible at the local level.

Instead, Hancock will be making everybody happy by keeping the DMV’s doors open on furlough days. He shouldn’t be. A business can’t run if its income isn’t sufficient to keep people employed. If the mayor is set on “running government like a business,” he should show that even with efficiency measures and cost-cutting, Denver’s taxpayers aren’t paying enough for the city-provided services they’re receiving.

Hancock’s winning the battle on Denver’s own belt-tightening, but as a result, he may be losing the war on the perception of government.  

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