Easier tag renewals

IF YOU STILL think of the Department of Motor Vehicles as a giant rat hole, where people are forced to spend hours waiting to deal with surly employees, then you haven’t been there lately. And that’s good: Many of the reforms in recent years were designed to keep people out of DMV offices.

One of the most exciting changes is coming through the department’s partnership with the S.C. Association of Auditors, Treasurers and Tax Collectors. The agency recently announced that what began as a pilot program in 2003 to let residents pick up their vehicle registrations and decals when they pay their county property taxes has already expanded to 10 counties (including Richland), with four more expected to start this month. That’s nearly triple the number of counties DMV had initially hoped to be working with by year’s end.

The change doesn’t mean a lot to people who pay their taxes by mail, but it can make a huge difference for people who still pay in person. Under the old system, they either had to drive to a DMV office after paying their taxes or else wait for DMV to mail their decals, which could result in their driving illegally for a few days if they waited too close to the end of the month to pay their taxes.

Some counties can’t participate because of incompatible computer systems, and we hope those problems can be worked out. In the meantime, we’re glad to see state and county officials working together to improve the service they provide to the public.