04/24/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/24/2024 16:34
Government of the District of Columbia
Department of Motor Vehicles
Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Oversight Hearing
Testimony of Gabriel Robinson, Director
Department of Motor Vehicles
Before the Committee on Transportation and the Environment
Charles Allen, Chairman
Council of the District of Columbia
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
12 pm
Good afternoon, Chairperson Allen, members of the Committee, and Committee staff. I am Gabriel Robinson, Director of the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
On behalf of Mayor Muriel Bowser, I would like to thank our customers, Chairperson Allen, this Committee, and the rest of the Council for their support. I also want to congratulate the Mayor and her Administration for their extraordinary leadership and efforts to revitalize the District. And finally, I want to extend a special thank you to all my colleagues at DC DMV for their exceptional dedication and hard work. Team DMV continues to provide outstanding customer service to District residents.
I am pleased to provide testimony on Mayor Bowser's Fiscal Year 2025 proposed budget, "A Fair Shot: Strategic Investment and Shared Sacrifice," the District's 29th consecutive balanced budget. With this budget, Mayor Bowser is continuing to strategically invest in District residents by prioritizing increasing access to affordable housing, creating a safer, stronger DC, expanding the reach of health and human services, accelerating achievements in education, ensuring access to job and economic opportunities, investing in transportation and the environment, and improving infrastructure and community spaces.
The Mayor's FY 25 proposed budget supports DMV's mission to promote the safe operation of motor vehicles and public safety while providing outstanding customer service. Our agency provides services to more than 623,000 licensed drivers and identification cardholders in the District and serves more than 310,000 registered vehicle owners at our four service centers. DMV interacts with District residents and non-residents, with an average of 3,200 daily customer contacts, which is more than almost any other District Government agency.
DC DMV processes and mails products generated from more than 392,000 online transactions annually. We provide exceptional Adjudication Services, including conducting more than 210,000 in-person and mail hearings annually, and more than 20,000 virtual hearings. We also collect and process more than 2.7 million tickets each year. At our Inspection Station, we conduct more than 178,000 annual vehicle inspections, including more than 8,300 inspections using our self-service on-board diagnostic (OBD) emissions kiosks, located in Ward 4 and now also in Ward 8.
Let me now briefly describe DMV's proposed budget and projects for the coming fiscal year. DMV's FY 25 proposed operating budget is $70,879,993, which represents a 4.7 percent increase from the FY 24 approved operating budget of $67,707,971. The proposed budget is comprised of $60,266,000 in Local funds and $10,614,000 in Special Purpose Revenue funds. DMV's FY 25 Capital Budget is $3,200,000, allocated to continue the modernization efforts underway for our licensing and registration system, also known as "DESTINY."
The FY 25 budget proposed by the Mayor invests or impacts the following DMV programs:
I would like to take a few moments to highlight some of the agency's FY 24 accomplishments, many of which will continue into FY 25:
In closing, the resources allocated to DMV will play a critical role in helping the agency to continue to provide outstanding service to District residents and all DMV customers. The Council and this Committee are critical allies in this effort, and we appreciate your collaboration to ensure we operate efficiently and effectively. We look forward to working together to achieve our shared goals and give all residents a fair shot, as outlined by Mayor Bowser.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I look forward to answering your questions.