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Deputy registrars and auto dealers warn privatized BMV network needs fee increases to stay viable
Summary
Leaders representing Ohio deputy registrars and auto dealer deputy-registrar operators told the committee that stagnant fees and rising operating costs are forcing closures in the privatized Bureau of Motor Vehicles network and asked the Senate to approve modest increases to deputy registrar transaction fees.
Representatives of the Ohio Deputy Registrar's Association and dealer-affiliated deputy registrars told the committee the state's privatized deputy-registrar network faces rising wage, rent and supply costs while transaction fees have been virtually unchanged for two decades.
John Degenbach, chairman of the Ohio Deputy Registrar's Association and a deputy registrar in Dayton, testified that deputy registrars are small private businesses under five-year contracts with the state and that the system saves taxpayers money, but that fee stagnation has made some offices financially unsustainable. "The cost of doing business has skyrocketed with the cost of wages nearly doubling in the past two decades," he said, and he asked for a modest fee increase of $5 to $10 across driver-license and vehicle registration transactions.
Timothy Elliott, executive vice president of the Northeastern Ohio Auto Dealers Association and a deputy registrar in Akron, said the percentage of revenue required for payroll has grown from about 48% in 2019 to roughly 65% in 2025. He said that high turnover and training needs raise fraud risk and slow processing when inexperienced staff replace veteran clerks. Elliott told the committee that the request is to sustain, not grow, the current BMV system and to allow agencies to pay competitive wages so they can keep qualified clerks.
Committee members asked clarifying questions about which transactions would be affected and about modernization steps already underway (kiosks, online renewals), and deputies said many identity-verification transactions must remain in-person for fraud prevention. The committee did not vote; witnesses provided budget and policy-related testimony.
