Sedgwick County Treasurer Brandy Bailey told reporters she is recommending that the county close the Kellogg tag office and move its services to the Douglas tag office, a proposal the Sedgwick County Board of County Commissioners will consider at its Oct. 1 meeting. If the commissioners approve the plan, Bailey said the Kellogg office’s last day of operation would be Thursday, Oct. 9, and all services would transfer to Douglas beginning Tuesday, Oct. 14.

Bailey, the county treasurer, said the consolidation is intended to reduce costs amid what she described as insufficient state funding and frequent outages of the state motor-vehicle system. "This move will save the county more than $350,000 per year and will result in more than 1,000,000 in savings over the remainder of the lease," she said, referring to the Kellogg lease, which she said expires in November 2028. She added, "No jobs will be cut during this transition."

The recommendation follows a sustained funding shortfall Bailey described as years in the making. She said counties across Kansas face the same technology disruptions because "all 105 counties are on 1 server," and that demand has risen because of expanded personalized-plate options and higher vehicle sales. Bailey said the county currently serves about 650 people per day and conducts "over 3,100 transactions per day." She and others at the briefing said those figures reflect current demand and motivated the consolidation proposal.

Bailey said Sedgwick County currently operates three satellite tag locations — at the Kansas driver's licensing office in Derby, at Park City City Hall, and at the Kansas Driver's Licensing Office on Tyler Road — and plans to add three more satellite sites at no charge to the county. "These partnerships come at no cost to the county," she said, adding the county is "also exploring the possibility of expanded hours" to reduce on-site wait times. Bailey said the additional satellites are expected to be open "by October," and that the county intends to advertise required documents on the tag office website to speed transactions.

Reporters pressed Bailey on whether consolidating locations would lengthen wait times. Bailey responded that consolidating staffing at a single primary location, plus additional satellites and consistent staffing across shifts, should avoid longer waits: "I don't foresee any longer wait times than what you're currently seeing." She also said the consolidation will preserve staff by moving current employees to Douglas rather than eliminating positions.

Bailey said the county has sought legislative fixes for several years through the Kansas County Treasurers Association and by approaching legislators directly. "We are going on the eighth year of trying to get legislation passed," she said, citing the five-year personalized-plate statute as a contributor to peak demand; she described two possible fixes: staggering the plate renewals over multiple years or repealing the statute. She said the county has discussed technology changes with the Kansas Department of Revenue (KDOR) but called KDOR's receptiveness limited: when asked, she answered, "Not so much."

The recommendation announced at this staff briefing is not yet an approved action. The county treasurer presented the plan for the commissioners' consideration; any formal change requires the commission's vote at the Oct. 1 meeting. If the commission approves consolidation, affected services, locations and schedules will shift on the dates Bailey provided and the county will proceed with the planned satellite partnerships and outreach to residents about alternative renewal methods, including online renewals, mail renewals and a drop box at the Douglas location.

Next steps identified at the briefing include the commissioners’ Oct. 1 consideration, potential legislative requests for statute or fee changes when the Legislature convenes, and continued discussions with KDOR about system architecture and server arrangements that Bailey said contribute to statewide outages.