Changes coming July 1 to DMV title fees, funding mechanism

Dec 14, 2023

The local DMV office is in the Blaine County Annex in Hailey.

When the Idaho Department of Transportation took the majority of motor vehicle registration transactions in 2022 and made a push for more online operations, they also took the majority of the funding that pays for the operating costs of the local DMV office, said Blaine County Assessor Jim Williams.

Since then, Williams, whose office operates the DMV in Hailey, has worked with legislators and assessors from across the state to find a solution to sustain the brick-and-mortar local offices.

The entire design of the DMV offices, Williams said, was to have the fees cover the cost of providing services to residents in the county offices. The DMV offices by law cannot profit over operating cost. When the fees don't cover operating costs, it must be subsidized from property taxes, he said.

But now that the state has taken over most of the registrations, the Blaine County office is projected to have about a $160,000 shortfall between the revenue generated by fees and the cost of operations.

While registrations now make up only about 32% of the local office's workload, the office is still handling the more time-consuming title work, Williams noted. And the employees still have full schedules with appointments booked throughout the day, he said. The office's three employees previously frequently had to work overtime.

After Williams and other assessors brought the problem before legislators, a resolution came in the form of an increase to title fees—set individually by counties to ensure fees covered local operating costs.

Now, the one-time title fee has gone up to $18.75 (not including other individualized fees that may be charged by the IDT). Previously, the county did not charge a title fee. Due to the drop in registration work, the recurring registration fee dropped from $8.65 to $7.25.

"Adjusting these fees solves the problem," Williams said. "Now we got the bill passed and can end up whole."

The new fees will go into effect July 1.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated what percentage registrations make up of the DMV's work.

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