Tax collectors in the Tampa Bay area are calling on Florida’s highway safety agency to fix a troubled new computer system that has caused widespread delays and extended wait times at driver’s license and motor vehicle offices across the state.
Hillsborough County Tax Collector Nancy Millan said that when the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles agency experiences outages in its “Orion” system, tax collector offices statewide are unable to complete transactions needed to process driver’s license renewals, vehicle registrations, and other services.
Millan said these system failures are outside the control of local offices, yet her employees are left facing frustrated customers with little to offer beyond word that the state is working on the problem.
Polk County Tax Collector Joe Tedder was more pointed in his criticism. Tedder said his office faced numerous issues conducting daily services, with some customers waiting more than three hours — compared to the typical 20 minutes or less — and others being turned away entirely.
According to Tedder, Orion was rolled out for DMV services in January, but problems have become more frequent over time. In May alone, 12 of the county’s 18 business days saw software crashes or delays.
Tedder called on the FLHSMV to take responsibility for the disruptions and urged residents to contact the agency directly to voice their concerns.
In response, the FLHSMV acknowledged ongoing performance issues affecting its driver’s license and motor vehicle systems statewide, saying its teams are actively monitoring the situation and working toward a full resolution.
Residents who want to file a complaint can call the FLHSMV at (850) 617-2000 or submit a form online at flhsmv.service-now.com/csp.
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