(Spirit Lake)– Effective last Friday, the Iowa Department of Transportation is no longer issuing or renewing driver’s licenses in Dickinson county.
The D-O-T is still offering the service at 18 regional centers throughout the state, including one in Spencer. County Treasurer’s Offices are offering the service in other areas. Dickinson County Treasurer Linda Voss last year recommended to the board of supervisors the county NOT take on the service. The supervisors agreed. With the state yanking the service away and with a new board of supervisors in place, the issue re-surfaced at today’s (Tues.) board of supervisors meeting.
Voss restated her opposition…siting concerns over cost, manpower and space in the office. The cost of starting up the operation was estimated at roughly 60-thousand dollars. Based on the 5,158 licenses issued in Dickinson county in 2001, the county’s revenue from the operation would be about 25-thousand dollars. Factoring in 16,800-dollars in unspent money from the Treasurer’s budget in the last fiscal year, the start-up cost would be about 20-thousand. Equipment for the operation would be provided by the state, and it was pointed out that as long as the service isn’t offered on Tuesday’s, that it could be located in the board of supervisor’s room. It was also pointed out that the service wouldn’t have to be available Monday through Friday…that it could continue on just one day a week like in the past.
A motion directing Voss to do some research into the most feasible way of offering the service by this coming January first passed three-to-two. It’s contingent on the supervisors having the constitutional authority to make such an order…something the County Attorney’s Office is looking into. Supervisors Wayne Northey and David Gottsche voted against the motion.
