Alachua County residents looking to obtain or renew their driver’s licenses may soon enjoy shorter wait times and more locations.
The Alachua County Department of Motor Vehicles will be merging with the Alachua County Tax Collector’s office next month as part of a Florida Legislature mandate.
John Power, chief deputy at the Alachua County Tax Collector’s Office, said tax collector offices across the state have already begun to merge with local DMV offices, which include offices in nearby Clay and Putnam counties.
In February, he said, county residents can start receiving driver’s licence services at the tax collector’s downtown office, located at 12 SE First St.
On March 11, the DMV office on Northwest 34th Street will close, and the tax collector’s office across the street, located at 5801 NW 34th Blvd., will begin providing the same driver’s license services. The office will also assume the lease on the former DMV building and continue to use the driving course for road tests.
In May, the merge will be complete when the tax collector’s office in Butler Plaza begins issuing licenses.
“We think it will be a big win for the public because they’ll have three choices instead of one,” Power said. “The current driver’s license office is only staffed by 11 people, which leads to a lot of customer frustration. When we take it over, we’ll have 35 front-counter customer service representatives handling transactions between the three offices.”
The tax collector offices currently conduct about 150,000 transactions each year. Power said he expects to see a 30 percent increase in transactions once tax collector’s offices become responsible for licenses.
Before the merge, residents had to go to two different agencies to conduct vehicle-related business.
Now, residents can go to any of the three tax collector’s offices to renew their car tag and renew their driver’s licenses.
“We believe bringing the driver’s licenses on will make us more of a one-stop shop,” Power said.
Melissa Lopez, a 23-year-old zoology senior, said shutting down the DMV office is a good idea.
“I think it’s more convenient for everybody,” she said.
However, Leah Harding, a 20-year-old Arabic and telecommunication major, said the problem of long lines may transfer over to the tax collector’s office once the switch happens.
“I know DMVs are notoriously bad for long lines, so I can see that being a problem,” she said.
