El Paso County staff told the commissioners court on Sept. 29 that the county’s title and registration office is managing a growing backlog in webDEALER transactions tied to House Bill 718, the 2023 Texas law that requires dealers to issue metal license plates and process titles electronically.

Human resources comp/spec staff said the backlog stood at 5,663 transactions as of the morning of the meeting and dated to Sept. 12, 2025. Human Resources classification analyst Cynthia Della Fuente said the office scheduled additional work days and training to reduce the backlog and would report weekly to the court.

The county’s 2025 time‑and‑motion review of tax assessor operations has been ongoing since April and is focused on HB 718 impacts. The HR team said interim steps have included reclassifying three vacant positions to dedicate them to webDEALER processing, scheduling weekend work sessions, awarding comp time for overtime shifts and planning two dealer trainings (one Spanish, one English) at El Paso Community College on Oct. 10.

“As of this morning, the current backlog in webDEALER is 5,663 transactions dating back to September 12 of 2025,” Cynthia Della Fuente, human resources, said during the meeting.

HR reported eight full‑time vacancies in the tax office and three seasonal‑pool vacancies. Four of the full‑time vacancies are entry‑level positions that are subject to the county’s 16‑week hiring waiting period unless the court’s committee grants an exemption. HR said it has received exemption requests and scheduled the hiring‑wait‑period committee review for Oct. 6.

County officials said temporary staff could be trained for up to a year and later converted to permanent roles if necessary, and that HR had already begun recruitment and background checks for at least one temporary rehire. The tax office planned to schedule employees for an additional Saturday (Oct. 4) to work on the backlog.

Commissioners pressed for urgency and asked whether the county had offered overtime or other budgeted funds to accelerate processing. County leaders said overtime requests had been submitted for HR and a short‑term scheduling plan was in place.

The court took no formal action on Sept. 29 beyond directing weekly updates from HR and the tax assessor’s office as recommended in the meeting materials. HR said it would continue to monitor staffing, training and process changes and return to the commissioners court with weekly progress reports.