House Appropriations Committee reviews DMV FY26 budget; $1.85M added for FAST modernization maintenance

The House Appropriations Committee met Feb. 11 and heard a presentation from Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Andrew Collier and DMV finance director Courtney Coda on the department’s fiscal year 2026 budget and modernization progress.

The DMV’s proposed FY26 budget shows a $1,850,000 net increase in contractual services to support the final phase of the FAST core modernization project as it moves from implementation into maintenance and operations. Commissioner Andrew Collier said the final phase of the modernization is scheduled to launch in November. “We’re really excited for Vermonters to experience kinda new way of doing business with DMV and try to make it as frictionless as possible,” Collier said.

Nut graf: Committee members focused on how the modernization affects operating costs, staffing and customer service metrics. DMV officials said the modernization will reduce certain operating costs tied to manual processing and interoffice mail while creating a recurring contractual expense for maintenance of the new system.

Key budget details presented by DMV staff: a $420,000 decrease on the operating side driven mainly by reduced postage and network costs resulting from scanning and centralized processing; a $57,000 increase projected for equipment to upgrade printers and other devices; and a reported total revenue figure discussed in the presentation of $398,750,000, which the department noted accounts for a roughly $52 million transfer to the Education Fund that is not part of DMV’s operating budget. On the revenue side, DMV staff noted the purchase-and-use tax line referenced in the slides as about $105,000,000 (the department said that figure does not include the Education Fund transfer).

On staffing, DMV reported 245 authorized positions that will be reduced by 14 limited‑service positions hired for the modernization project; Collier said those limited‑service roles were interim and the department plans to bring its permanent headcount to 231. DMV staff reported vacancy improvements: where the department counted 31 vacancies in January, they said the number had fallen to 10 in the most recent week. The department also indicated it uses a built‑in 5% vacancy savings assumption in its budget.

Financial controls and carry forward: DMV told the committee it does not expect carry‑forward spending in FY26 and that $3.3 million had been carried forward in FY24. On audit status, officials said DMV had no single‑audit findings related to the department in the agency transportation audit and that the FY24 audit was pending.

Committee members asked about the timeline and costs of the FAST project. Collier attributed the project’s on‑time progress to close vendor-state collaboration and in‑state vendor staff working alongside DMV and the Agency of Digital Services. “FAST, the vendor bridal in employees in state, and they buy houses, rent housing, have families that come to the schools, and their team is here in state working side by side with DMV staff, agency of digital service staff, and really keeping this project moving, on time,” Collier said.

Committee chair and other members pressed on performance metrics the DMV will use after modernization. Collier and finance staff said the department tracks weekly measures—walk‑in counts, wait times, call resolution minutes and processing times—and intends to launch a customer survey to establish baselines. The secretary of administration (title referenced in the meeting) added that weekly reporting has shown marked improvements in average phone wait times and in‑office service times since the first phase of the project went live.

Ending: Committee members thanked DMV leadership for the briefing and noted the committee’s schedule includes other agency presentations the following day. No formal committee vote or budget action occurred during the hearing.