Department of Motor Vehicles
At a Glance
GARY J. DeFILIPPO, Commissioner
Anthony D. Portanova, Deputy Commissioner
William Ramirez, Deputy Commissioner
Established -
1917
Statutory authority –
CGS Title 14
Central office –
Rowland State Government Center,
55 West Main Street,
Waterbury, CT 06702
Number of full-time employees -
805
Recurring operating expenses - $14.15
million
Organizational structure -
Five Bureaus
Mission
To deliver high-quality, innovative services to
our customers and to promote highway safety for the public. Our vision is a continuously improving DMV,
without walls, without lines and within budget.
Statutory
Responsibility
The
Department of Motor Vehicles’ (DMV’s) major responsibilities include: insuring highway safety through enforcement
of the statutes regarding motor vehicles and their operation; issuing
credentials for motor vehicle operators, their vehicles and for companies
involved in vehicle-related businesses; collecting revenue, part of which is
allocated for the construction and maintenance of highways; collecting and
storing records on operators, vehicles and revenues and making such available
to authorized persons and agencies; and, imposing sanctions on those who
violate motor vehicle laws and regulations. In this regard, DMV issued more than 155 thousand notices of
pending license and/or registration suspensions, one-third of which pertained
to motorists who had failed to appear in court to satisfy a traffic
violation. The Department directs the
Administrative Per Se Program in response to the threat posed by operators
driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) and issued more than 12 thousand
license suspensions this year. In
addition, as mandated by the state and federal voter registration statutes, the
DMV assisted more than 14 thousand individuals in registering to
vote, increasing the total number of registries to more than 127 thousand, to
date. DMV offices have also proven,
convenient sites for the public to enroll as anatomical donors.
Improvements/Achievements
2002-03
The
DMV is building toward the restart of Connecticut’s emissions testing program,
scheduled for mid-September 2003, which involves oversight of the contractors
selected to operate the vehicle testing and database design and management
portions of the program, Agbar Technologies, Inc. of Chicago, Illinois and Sys
Tech International, LLC of Ann Arbor, Michigan, respectively. The new decentralized approach utilizes a
minimum of 300 privately owned garages to conduct the myriad tests (OBD II, ASM
25/25, Two-Speed Idle and Diesel) that are integral to the State’s enhanced
program. DMV has also supervised the
design and content of the materials and venues for the program’s public
information dissemination. Of
significance within this program are the high-tech, anti-fraud measures
(real-time video monitoring and covert, overt and record auditing) to insure
the integrity of the operation. In
conjunction with this aim was the acquisition and ongoing outfitting of a
technical management center that will house the video and data auditing
functions as well as be suitable for Certified Emissions Repair Technician
training and an emissions customer service center.
Progress continues on the Real-Time-Online Registration System
initiative, which is the agency’s top strategic initiative. Beginning in December 2003, eligible
Connecticut citizens will have the option of renewing their automobile
registrations from the comfort of their homes via the Internet. An enduring benefit of this project is the
re-engineer of many of the agency’s information systems such as, the
Registration, Title, Operator Control/Driver History and, incidental
improvements to related subordinate systems.
DMV
joined the Department of Information and Technology in the successful
development of an Internet website within the universal portal established for
all state agencies. This entailed the
complete redesign of the agency website as well as every existing link. Agency staff continuously monitors the site to
maintain accuracy and insert information deemed useful to customers. The DMV website address, http://dmvct.org, is visited by as many as 25
thousand customers weekly.
These major
undertakings exemplify the very tangible innovations the agency is involved in
and are illustrative of DMV’s commitment to providing better and more
convenient services to its customers.
The
agency introduced a new Special Program license plate that memorializes the
national tragedy of September 11, 2001 and contains the logo, “United We Stand”
enclosed by the American and Connecticut State flags. This is but one of ten Special Program Plates and 40 Special
Interest Plates in the DMV repertoire, available to customers.
The
construction of two new Branch Offices has been completed. These leased facilities, located in
Bridgeport and Danbury, provide 15 and 10 thousand square feet of ADA compliant
office space, respectively, containing large, bright customer service areas,
employee conference and training rooms and ample storage space. These new facilities compliment the eight
existing full-service branch offices and three satellite offices (full-service
with limited hours). The agency also
maintains two popular photo-licensing buses and two Winnebago’s that
alternately operate at 12 locations statewide.
Photo-licensing services are also available at 15 AAA offices.
The
Dealer and Leasing Online Registration Program enables leasing companies and
dealerships to interact directly from their offices with DMV’s vehicular
registration renewal database. This
method of registering vehicles accounted for approximately 185 thousand
transactions, significantly reducing the flow of customers into branch
offices.
The
amount of money recovered and services obtained by the Dealers and Repairers
Division for consumers injured by licensees exceeded $1 million again this
year.
Approximately 4 thousand new cases were referred to the Medical Review
Division by law enforcement agencies, physicians and others, because of
motorists’ actual or perceived mental and/or physical impairments resulting
from advancing age or health problems.
For especially difficult evaluations, a Medical Advisory Board comprised
of physicians and DMV staff is consulted to determine whether a motorist
continues to meet the minimum standards for retaining a traditional license or,
because of limitations, must be issued a restricted license. In some instances, due to the nature and/or
stage of a motorist’s medical condition, the committee recommends that an
individual’s driver’s license be rescinded.
Appreciating the gravity of such a decision, the committee is
conscientious about ensuring that the whole process is conducted in as
compassionate and dignified a manner as possible.
Technological
improvements include the upgrade and replacement of out-dated personal
computers with newer equipment in order to enhance workflow and efficiency
within the agency. A majority of IT
staff has been involved in the development, release and implementation of
several Requests for Proposals (RFP’s) and Statements of Work (SOW’s) for
fundamental agency projects, such as:
Emissions Testing, an Emissions Database Management System, an Online
Registration System, an Internet Registration Renewal Program and an Insurance
Compliance Reporting System.
The
Strategic Plan initiated for the period July 1, 2002 through June 30, 2005 is
progressing in spite of these difficult economic times. The major areas of focus remain: increasing customer/stakeholder
satisfaction; enhancing public safety and protection; and instructing and
supporting agency employees.
DMV recognizes
affirmative action and equal employment opportunity as priority objectives and
accordingly abides by an affirmative action plan that was approved by the
Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.
The agency’s commitment to both reinforces its goal, the complete and
equitable participation of all protected class members in the work force. Therefore, the DMV does not knowingly
conduct business with any contractor, subcontractor or material supplier that
discriminates against anyone.
The
following statistics demonstrate the scope of the agency’s activities for
residents as well as the substantial revenues collected for the State of
Connecticut:
·
Registered motor vehicles in Connecticut - 2.9
million;
·
Licensed operators in Connecticut - 2.3 million;
·
Revenue collected - $367.6 million during Fiscal
Year 2002/2003