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DHSMV tells Florida subcommittee transition to county tax collectors is on track; agency credits funding and hires for shorter wait times
Summary
Deputy executive director reported to the Transportation and Economic Budget Subcommittee that Miami‑Dade and Broward transitions are proceeding, appointments are available and a $3.1 million appropriation is enabling new hires; members pressed the agency on earlier long lines and data limits.
At a Nov. 24 subcommittee hearing, the deputy executive director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles told lawmakers the transition of driver’s license services in Miami‑Dade and Broward to newly elected tax collectors is progressing and that recent funding and hiring have reduced wait times.
The deputy executive director said the department began the 2025 year with 14 state‑operated driver’s license offices and is down to six — one in Miami‑Dade and five in Broward — and that eight of nine Miami‑Dade offices have already shifted to the county tax collector. Speaking to the panel, the deputy executive director said appointments are available and the offices are “able to serve everyone that shows up.”
Why it matters: the shift moves day‑to‑day service delivery from state operators to local tax collectors while the state retains responsibilities such as the online portal, examiner training and IT infrastructure. Lawmakers said long lines in 2023 and 2024 created serious hardships for constituents, including seniors who fainted while waiting.
The department credited several changes for recent improvements: a legislative appropriation of $3,100,000 this fiscal year to hire additional driver‑license examiners (the department said it can hire about 64 additional examiners with that funding), extended service hours at many offices, and local tax collectors opening or expanding offices. The deputy executive director also reported the department ran more than 500 “flow” events with mobile units and said staff logged “over 30,000” hours of overtime responding to the surge in demand.
Committee members pressed the agency on metrics and transparency. The deputy executive director explained the commonly cited “served in 30 minutes or less” metric begins only after a customer completes the document check and receives a queuing ticket; time spent waiting outside before being checked in is not captured in that number. The department acknowledged it cannot fully track customers who arrive and leave before being served and that the QR‑code satisfaction survey used in offices draws a small, voluntary response rate.
Members also questioned whether the county conversions themselves contributed to past problems; the department said budget constraints and hiring freezes in 2023 led to elevated vacancies, and that a large increase in noncitizen transactions (the department said a more‑than‑70% rise from 2022 to 2024) amplified workload in Miami‑Dade and Broward.
Representative Daly told the committee he was “a little miffed that Director Kerner couldn’t be here this morning,” recounted constituents who suffered while waiting in line and said the portal had been a “disaster.” Other members praised local tax collectors for rapid engagement: Representative Fabrizio publicly thanked Miami‑Dade tax collector Dariel Fernandez for quickly developing offices and outreach.
What’s next: the department said Miami‑Dade’s remaining state office will transition next month and expects both counties to complete conversion by the June 30, 2027 statutory deadline. The deputy executive director told members the short answer on sustaining improvements is that continued or flexible funding will be necessary and requested the committee’s help in repurposing positions until transitions are finished.
Adjournment: the committee adjourned after a brief public comment period and an ex officio motion to rise.
