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DOJ and Motor Vehicle Division explain pay decisions after Merlin rollout, seek Real ID authority
Summary
Department of Justice and Motor Vehicle Division staff told the subcommittee they used modified positions and off‑cycle pay increases to clear a backlog from the Merlin replacement system and to retain employees in high-cost areas; MVD requested ongoing authority for maintenance and Real ID account adjustments.
Department of Justice and Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) representatives told the Section D subcommittee the division used temporary (modified) positions and out-of-cycle pay adjustments to clear a transaction backlog tied to a recent Merlin system replacement, and to retain staff in high-cost markets such as Bozeman and Billings.
"We had to have those employees so as we started to dial back on that we increased the pay of our other employees," Department of Justice staff member Mr. Self said when explaining management decisions that increased personal-services authority in MVD. Mr. Self said agencies opted to use existing authority to fund temporary staff while the new system rolled out and later converted some of that authority to pay increases for permanent staff.
Melissa Gardner, who identified herself for the record as Melissa Gardner, explained the motor vehicle contracts included negotiated language allowing discretionary off-cycle pay increases in high-cost areas. "Yes. That is correct. So then once we make those pay changes, pay is protected in the state of Montana and so- that is now the new rate at which we are negotiating come next cycle," Gardner said.
Staff and members also discussed several MVD decision packages: requests to convert modified positions to permanent at a $0 net ask for the current biennium, DP 901 and DP 902 requests to cover county office processing and postage inflationary costs, and a DP seeking roughly $450,000 for vehicle maintenance to bring ongoing car-system maintenance authority to about $3 million per year. Staff noted a request to move $2.5 million of ongoing authority into the MVD Real ID account and cautioned that using a large portion of the Real ID fund balance could reduce the account quickly if revenues stay near recent averages.
On staffing levels, Mr. Self said MVD found it was "cheaper to keep employees than it is to train new ones," and cited local private-sector competition for workers in markets where retail centers advertised higher hourly pay. Committee staff and members asked for follow-up figures on the size of raises and the distribution across bargaining units; staff said they would obtain precise numbers and underlying documentation for the committee.
