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This November, the voters of Miami-Dade County will elect their Tax Collector for the first time in more than 60 years. The newly elected Tax Collector will deal with many challenges and opportunities, but none bigger than managing the local Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) offices.
Today, our DMV offices are managed by the State of Florida because our county Tax Collector is not elected. As it stands, our local DMV offices are a complete headache for residents. Sadly, the State has failed to properly staff or budget for these offices, resulting in an inability to provide acceptable customer service. The status quo is simply unacceptable.
Once our elected Tax Collector is sworn into office on January 7, 2025, the State of Florida will begin the process of transitioning DMV offices to the Tax Collector. Several factors will frustrate this transition — funding being one of them.
It is estimated that the State of Florida loses about $10 million a year managing our nine local DMV offices, as the fee structure set by the State is not adequate to cover actual operating costs. Once our Tax Collector takes office, the State will transfer these losses to the county for the Tax Collector to figure out. Where will this money come from? How can we then find cost-effective ways to improve services? These are questions candidates for Tax Collector must be prepared to answer.
I have estimated that without doing anything to improve DMV services, the annual net cost to run the Office of the Tax Collector – which is currently about $30 million a year – will necessarily increase to $40 million or more, just to cover the losses on the DMV. Our new Tax Collector will have to use some of the fees collected in other parts of the office to offset the losses of running DMV services.
Earlier this year, I met with the Director of the DMV in Tallahassee, who I served with in the state legislature. We talked about what an orderly transition might look like. I encouraged the State to begin the first transfer of offices no sooner than October 1, 2025, with all services transitioned by June 30, 2026. This way, our Tax Collector can properly fund the transition when they submit their annual budget for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2025. While there is a small reserve in the currently proposed county budget for this office, this reserve will not be enough to fully absorb the expected losses should the State push to transition the nine offices immediately.
Another factor that will frustrate the transition of offices is staffing. Current DMV employees are on the payroll of the State, and their accrued benefits are a liability for the State. Should the newly elected Tax Collector offer them jobs with their current benefits and accrued leave balances, who will pay for this liability? This issue will also apply to current Miami-Dade County employees who are expected to be offered jobs in the newly independent Office of Tax Collector. If the elected Tax Collector decides to absorb these liabilities, then current budget reserves will be adequate to cover minimal costs expected before October 1, 2025. Then, full funding for this liability can be included in the first annual budget proposed by the Tax Collector.
These issues and countless others will require a leader with experience and expertise in order to tackle the expected headaches associated with transferring the DMV offices to the Office of the Tax Collector, and then our residents will receive the services they justly deserve.
David Richardson is a former State Representative, former Miami Beach City Commissioner, and current candidate for elected Tax Collector who started his career in accounting and auditing, first working as an auditor for the U.S. Department of Defense before founding his own small business in 1993 – specializing in forensic auditing of government contracts. His background as a forensic auditor and Certified Public Accountant has earned David the nickname “the Budget Guy,” for his commitment to fiscal responsibility and ethical governance.
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