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Willcox MVD Office set to close
By Carol Broeder & Derek Jordan/Arizona Range News
Three of the county's five state Motor Vehicle Division offices could be closing as the Arizona Department of Transportation cuts costs amid a $100 million budget deficit.
Last Tuesday, the department announced its intention to close the MVD offices in Willcox, Benson and Bisbee, as well as nine others across the state to balance the department's budget.
The Sierra Vista and Douglas locations were not scheduled to be closed.
"The closure of MVD offices is an inconvenience and hardship for our customers, especially in rural Arizona," department Director John Halikowski said in a statement. "However, inadequate state revenues are forcing tough decisions to be made."
Before the offices can be closed, a review by the U.S. Department of Justice is required to ensure that, since the offices provide voter registration services, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 will not be violated, according to a news release announcing the office closures.
There is no way to know how long the review process will take, said Doug Nintzel, ADOT spokesman.
Falling revenues from taxes on things like gasoline and new cars are not the only reason the department is in a financial hole, he said.
"We've seen hundreds of millions of transportation funds diverted to help with the state's overall budget deficit over the last couple years," Nintzel said.
"Combined with declines in revenue, we have no other choice but to make decisions that will unfortunately effect our customers."
The criteria considered in the decision to close the offices include the number of customers served, the condition of the facilities in which they were located and the availability of other services in the area, including other MVD offices, the release stated.
On average, these 12 offices combined provide services to about 28,500 customers per month, ranging from 11,300 for the Central Phoenix location to 201 in Clifton.
Overall, MVD offices meet the needs of 4 million customers annually, according to the release.
A chart obtained from the ADOT website indicates that Willcox has an average of 1114 customers per month, while Benson averages 1638 and Bisbee 1081 customers per month.
Asked why both Benson and Willcox offices were slated for closure, Nintzel replied, "Both facilities have their share of problems."
"For example, the Benson office, located in a strip mall, has had structural problems over time and not been a good location for conducting inspections or tests," he said last Wednesday.
"The Willcox office also has insufficient room for parking and testing," Nintzel told the Range News.
"While we don't want to inconvenience customers with longer drives to another MVD office in the region, the legislature's moves and declining revenue have required difficult choices," he said.
"We have a feeling that more customers in southeastern Arizona and around the state will choose to use a third-party business that provides MVD services at the cost of a convenience fee. (Find a third-party business at www.azmvdservices.com)," Nintzel said.
According to the ADOT chart, it appears that Willcox is one of three of the 12 Arizona communities that will suffer the greatest hardship in terms of distance from the nearest MVD office.
St. Johns, in Apache County, is 48 miles from the Show Low MVD and 92 miles from Winslow.
Ajo, which is in Pima County, is 40 miles from a third party service in Gila Bend; 96 miles from the Avondale MVD; and 104 miles from one in Casa Grande.
For Willcox residents, 10 third party sites in Tucson are within 48-57 miles; with Safford MVD office 50 miles away; and Douglas MVD office, 69 miles away.
When the Range News informed Nintzel that the third-party service in Willcox closed more than a year ago, he replied,
"Willcox area customers will be especially inconvenienced, along with customers in communities like St. John's and Ajo," he said.
"We don't want to tell people that they have to drive that far to get to an MVD office, and we hope as many people as possible will do available transactions online (at www.servicearizona.com)," he said.
"But the state's budget problems, and the legislature's reliance on transportation funding to try to solve the overall state budget crisis, have forced some difficult decisions."
The two full-time employees who staff each of the offices in Cochise County scheduled to close will be given the option to relocate to one of the nearby offices, Nintzel said.
Those who are unable or unwilling to work at other locations will be reimbursed for any unused leave time.
"We warned the Legislature that we would get to this point, where impacts that affect customers would be necessary," Nintzel said.
Customers are urged to only come to their local Motor Vehicle Division service office if their needs cannot be met elsewhere, like the MVD's Web site, www.servicearizona.com, which can process annual vehicle registration renewals as well as other services, he said.
Last Tuesday, the department announced its intention to close the MVD offices in Willcox, Benson and Bisbee, as well as nine others across the state to balance the department's budget.
The Sierra Vista and Douglas locations were not scheduled to be closed.
"The closure of MVD offices is an inconvenience and hardship for our customers, especially in rural Arizona," department Director John Halikowski said in a statement. "However, inadequate state revenues are forcing tough decisions to be made."
Before the offices can be closed, a review by the U.S. Department of Justice is required to ensure that, since the offices provide voter registration services, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 will not be violated, according to a news release announcing the office closures.
There is no way to know how long the review process will take, said Doug Nintzel, ADOT spokesman.
Falling revenues from taxes on things like gasoline and new cars are not the only reason the department is in a financial hole, he said.
"We've seen hundreds of millions of transportation funds diverted to help with the state's overall budget deficit over the last couple years," Nintzel said.
"Combined with declines in revenue, we have no other choice but to make decisions that will unfortunately effect our customers."
The criteria considered in the decision to close the offices include the number of customers served, the condition of the facilities in which they were located and the availability of other services in the area, including other MVD offices, the release stated.
On average, these 12 offices combined provide services to about 28,500 customers per month, ranging from 11,300 for the Central Phoenix location to 201 in Clifton.
Overall, MVD offices meet the needs of 4 million customers annually, according to the release.
A chart obtained from the ADOT website indicates that Willcox has an average of 1114 customers per month, while Benson averages 1638 and Bisbee 1081 customers per month.
Asked why both Benson and Willcox offices were slated for closure, Nintzel replied, "Both facilities have their share of problems."
"For example, the Benson office, located in a strip mall, has had structural problems over time and not been a good location for conducting inspections or tests," he said last Wednesday.
"The Willcox office also has insufficient room for parking and testing," Nintzel told the Range News.
"While we don't want to inconvenience customers with longer drives to another MVD office in the region, the legislature's moves and declining revenue have required difficult choices," he said.
"We have a feeling that more customers in southeastern Arizona and around the state will choose to use a third-party business that provides MVD services at the cost of a convenience fee. (Find a third-party business at www.azmvdservices.com)," Nintzel said.
According to the ADOT chart, it appears that Willcox is one of three of the 12 Arizona communities that will suffer the greatest hardship in terms of distance from the nearest MVD office.
St. Johns, in Apache County, is 48 miles from the Show Low MVD and 92 miles from Winslow.
Ajo, which is in Pima County, is 40 miles from a third party service in Gila Bend; 96 miles from the Avondale MVD; and 104 miles from one in Casa Grande.
For Willcox residents, 10 third party sites in Tucson are within 48-57 miles; with Safford MVD office 50 miles away; and Douglas MVD office, 69 miles away.
When the Range News informed Nintzel that the third-party service in Willcox closed more than a year ago, he replied,
"Willcox area customers will be especially inconvenienced, along with customers in communities like St. John's and Ajo," he said.
"We don't want to tell people that they have to drive that far to get to an MVD office, and we hope as many people as possible will do available transactions online (at www.servicearizona.com)," he said.
"But the state's budget problems, and the legislature's reliance on transportation funding to try to solve the overall state budget crisis, have forced some difficult decisions."
The two full-time employees who staff each of the offices in Cochise County scheduled to close will be given the option to relocate to one of the nearby offices, Nintzel said.
Those who are unable or unwilling to work at other locations will be reimbursed for any unused leave time.
"We warned the Legislature that we would get to this point, where impacts that affect customers would be necessary," Nintzel said.
Customers are urged to only come to their local Motor Vehicle Division service office if their needs cannot be met elsewhere, like the MVD's Web site, www.servicearizona.com, which can process annual vehicle registration renewals as well as other services, he said.
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Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of willcoxrangenews.com.
EARL wrote on Dec 4, 2009 9:26 PM:
" LETS CUT THE PAY OF THOSE IN STATE GOVERNMENT, THATS WHERE THEY SHOULD START THE BUDGET FIX ! LIST THE SALARIES OF OF THESE PEOPLE AND YOU WILL FIND THEY ARE ALL FAR OVER PAID I'M SURE. "
Tommy Boy wrote on Dec 6, 2009 7:09 AM:
" Once again its the failure of the goverment to keep itself within a budget and now the citizens must suffer due to their poor performance.Almost all of our reststops in the state are closed and now this who do the think paid for all of these things??? The taxpayers when will we wake up and vote some responsible people into this state goverment "
Fiddler wrote on Dec 6, 2009 9:57 PM:
" And we voted them in office. What were we thinking? Next November pay attention and vote them out. Career and politician should never be used in the same sentence. "
Judy Smith wrote on Dec 7, 2009 10:02 AM:
" "10 third party sites in Tucson are within 48-57 miles of Willcox"(????) That is totally untrue! Has the person who made that statement ever driven those miles? Editor's Note: That was a quote from an ADOT website chart, which you are right, is not accurate. Willcox is at least 75 miles from Tucson. "
big e wrote on Dec 2, 2009 6:46 PM: