BMV Given $450,000 In 2015 For Rank And File Employee Raises; One Year Later The Money Is Gone But With No Raises Given

ST. CROIX — Bureau of Motor Vehicles officials met Thursday at the Fritz E. Lawaetz Legislative Hall before senators who make up the Committee on Finance, to give testimony on the bureau’s fiscal year 2017 budget, which totals $3,019,813, $1 million of which coming from funds collected by B.M.V.

Lawrence Olive, B.M.V.’s director, spoke of apparent improvements made at the bureau, stating that employees met two of four performance indicators, including “the average waiting time for customers registering a non-commercial vehicle,” and “the average record retrieval time of a lost license.” Mr. Olive also said that a “significant” decrease in customers’ wait time at B.M.V. had been realized, adding that it had improved customer service satisfaction.

Of paramount importance, Mr. Olive said that B.M.V. had chosen a contractor that would bring the territory’s registration and titling system into compliance with the federal government’s Real I.D. Act, and was awaiting approval. Earlier this year, Mr. Olive said the territory would come into compliance by the end of this year; beating the federal government’s extension deadline by one year.

But B.M.V. officials stuttered when asked by Senator Kurt Vialet about some $450,000 that the legislature appropriated to B.M.V. in 2015, to be used specifically for rank and file employee raises.

“The last time we met, we increased the amount for personnel because we were appalled that so many employees were making $20,000 [annually]. But now I’m looking at it, and I’m not seeing any raises for the employees that we appropriated monies for, so where did the extra $210,000 go?” Mr. Vialet asked.

Rank in file employees were apparently given a raise of $100 annually. But that amount, Mr. Vialet contended, simply does not add up to the missing $450,000, especially since the bureau is so small, he said.

Receiving no satisfying answers from bureau officials, the senator re-asked the question: “Did you hire additional people for that $450,000, or where did that $450,000 go, or do we have monies left back there? Because you said you need to do an appropriation transfer, and I’m saying but how, when the money is there?”

Bureau officials said that at the end of B.M.V.’s last budget, a “spending plan” was conducted, and about $100,000 was remaining of those funds, along with fringe benefits. But the question was still not answered.

“Who got raises?” Mr. Vialet pressed. “Who did the money go to? Did anybody received raises that consumed that money? You don’t need an appropriation transfer to increase the salaries because we already gave you that money. The monies are already there,” he said.

B.M.V. said employees were hired, but further questions revealed that only two people were brought on, and a previous employee had resigned, bringing the senator’s query back to square one.

Mr. Vialet asked for a report detailing how the extra monies that were allocated for personnel were spent. He said a similar appropriation was given to the Department of Agriculture, and the implementation had already occurred, adding that D.O.A. employees had called him confirming the raises.

“We took care of Bureau of Motor Vehicles and we took care of the Department of Agriculture; those individuals were supposed to get those raises,” Mr. Vialet said.

At his campaign launch event Saturday, the senator said he had heard, but could not confirm, that B.M.V., instead of giving those raises to the rank and file, top tier had seen their salaries increase — some in the amount of $10,000 annually.