Sedgwick County treasurer seeks director, pay changes and fee increase to ease tag‑office backlog

Brandy Bailey, Sedgwick County treasurer, briefed the commission on May 19 about sharp increases in customer demand and operational strains at the county tag office. Bailey said clerks' productivity has more than doubled over the past five months and that visit volumes at Douglas and Kellogg locations now average 900–1,300 people per day on peak days; but starting wages at about $17.04 per hour are not competitive with local employers, leaving the office roughly 16 positions short of its staffing table.

"We more than doubled our productivity," Bailey said, and she asked the commission to support a market‑aligned compensation plan, reclassification work and the addition of 7–10 positions to stabilize operations. Bailey proposed hiring an operations director to manage day‑to‑day tag services and described a funding path under state statute that allows the county to raise the transaction fee (examples in her slides included raising the current $5 fee to $7.50 or $8.50, with a statutory cap at $10) to generate recurring revenue for staffing and improvements.

Commissioners offered several short‑term and mid‑term ideas: authorize a performance audit by the county manager's office, explore critical‑pay or sign‑on incentives, consider restoring walk‑in satellite offices if staffing can support them, and press the state to fix the queue system and examine the $4.50 modernization fee that goes to KDOT. Bailey said she welcomed the auditor review and emphasized that fixing the state queue system is essential to reduce wait times even if staffing increases are approved.