Miami-Dade County Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez discussed some of the changes he’s making to help alleviate long waits at DMVs across the county, including opening a new location. NBC6’s Lorena Inclan reports
Long lines at DMVs are a common headache in Miami-Dade County. Completing basic services like renewing your license can turn into an all-day ordeal, especially if you don't have an appointment.
The recently elected Miami-Dade County Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez said his office has already added an extra location in downtown Miami where people can get or renew their driver’s license.
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WATCH HEREBut county-wide relief won’t happen overnight.
When NBC6 showed up at the DMV location on Northwest 7th Street Tuesday just before noon, we found people waiting outside in the hot sun. Those waiting said the security guard wouldn’t let them wait in the shaded area near the door.
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It’s the same location that Dinelly Toledo said her husband had bad experiences at when he tried to renew his hazmat license.
“They denied access [at] 2 o’clock,” she said.
That DMV location closes at 5.
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“There was this one occasion he came at 9 a.m., they let him in line, and like around 1 p.m., one of the workers from inside came and said, 'Everybody, go home,’ ‘We’re not taking anybody else in,'" Toledo said.
Arguably the biggest challenge ahead for Fernandez is managing the local DMV offices, a task that used to be the responsibility of the state.
Fernandez said they’re working on increasing staff.
“We’re going to expand the hours of operation of every single office because I know a lot of people work in the afternoon or a lot of people work in the morning, so we wanted to accommodate each resident of Miami-Dade County,” Fernandez said.
After a few minutes of our camera rolling, people started running to the door at the NW 7th Street location, rushing to get inside after someone finally let them in.
“They need to improve everything I could go on and on about that, this driver’s license stuff sucks,” said a driver named Kenneth as he was leaving the DMV.
Over at the Mall of Americas location, the line seemed never-ending just three days ago.
Fernandez also said his office is working on investing in technology to tackle the sale of appointments in the black market.
“We’re going to stop that, that is one of the issues we have right now, we don’t have control so we wanted to first control this office, create and invest in technology so that way these people cannot do this any longer,” Fernandez said.
It’ll take time to transition all Miami-Dade DMVs from the state over to the tax collector’s office.
As that process continues, many hope to see an improvement in customer service among the DMV's current employees.
Right now, the best way to avoid potential hassles is to have an appointment before showing up at the DMV. You can get an appointment online at https://nqapflhsmv.nemoqappointment.com/.
