New system could slow registration

TIFTON — The Tift County tag office will be closed over Memorial Day weekend for a system update.

Residents with May and early June birthdays are being encouraged to renew their vehicle tag by May 17.

Tift County Tax Commissioner Chad Alexander said that residents with tag renewals within those dates should go ahead and renew early because the new system implementation may lead to delays in getting tags renewed.

He said that the office will be closed at 1 p.m. on Thursday, May 23 and will reopen at 11 a.m. Tuesday, May 28.

Georgia Steele, director of the Motor Vehicle Division of the Georgia Department of Revenue, said that the department is implementing a new system for vehicle titling and registration known as Georgia DRIVES.

“Georgia DRIVES is the system replacement of our title and registration system here in Georgia,” Steele said. “The state is partnering with local county tax commissioners to do this system replacement over Memorial Day of 2019.”

She said that the current 20-year-old system is antiquated.

“What we’re looking to do is to put the customer in the driver’s seat,” she said. “It’s giving them more options to do services online.”

Once the system is rolled out state-wide, residents will be able to pre-apply for a title or registration and check the status of a title without coming in to the office.

Steele said that renewing early will ensure vehicle owners have the registrations complete before the cutoff date and avoid delays and long lines as tag office staff learn how to use the new system.

Steele said that local tag offices have already started training on the new system, but that using it daily will take some getting used to.

“If a transaction typically takes five minutes in the office now, it may need an additional two or three minutes,” she said. “So we’re really asking for customers just to be patient.”

Steele said that this only affects tag offices and vehicle services, not drivers license renewals.

“DDS (Department of Drivers Services) will still have their regular operating hours,” she said.

Steele said that DDS is slated to get a state-wide system update in approximately 16 months as well.