Jasper County’s in a ‘traffic jam’

Even though driver’s license/motor vehicle department staff in the courthouse are there to serve both Jasper County residents and outside guests, the treasurernoticed more out-of-county customers have been setting up appointments, which he says is preventing local taxpayers from receiving services.

To remedy this, staff will only provide service for Jasper County citizens until further notice. Jasper County Treasurer Doug Bishop said since local taxpayers pay for these services, he’s going to make sure they are taken care of first. Bishop updated the board of supervisors of this change on Tuesday, Aug. 18.

“If we were to open our doors to the public and say, ‘Come on down!’ we’d have 200 Polk County residents every day down here,” Bishop said. “Ankeny can’t keep up, Waukee can’t keep up … We did 40 driver’s license renewals yesterday. Poweshiek did 12. Marshall County didn’t do any ‘cause they don’t work on Mondays.”

The driver’s license department has been receiving 200 to 300 phones a day, more than half of which are from customers living in Polk, Marshall and Poweshiek Counties, Bishop said. Normally, this would not be a problem, but the pandemic has caused the county to rethink its operations.

In June, Bishop presented a new business plan to supervisors, which issued stricter social distancing requirements and cleaning measures. All services became appointment based, too. Bishop said doing business this way could save the county $100,000 in the process.

Since the courthouse closed for some time during the early stages of the pandemic, services were put on hold. With doors reopened, it’s been a challenge to catch up. Staff even resorted to working on weekends. Bishop said he’s unsure why the state departments can’t work overtime to get caught up.

“But they’ve basically thrown their hands in the air and said, ‘There’s just no way we’re going to get this taken care of,’” Bishop said. “We have a lot of folks from Grinnell that are driving over here just begging us to get (them) in. But if we took everyone on from Central Iowa, our Jasper County people will never get in.”

At this point, Bishop recommended residents also renew their vehicle tags online, by mail or through the county dropbox in order to cut down on foot traffic to the courthouse office. Title transfers can be done between 8 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m. every day. A staff member will be in the hallway to assist in the processing.

Customers also have the option to have staff fill out their title transfer forms to send out or instruct them how to do it online. Once the form is mailed in, staff process it and send it back. Bishop said this method saves them from having to drive in to downtown and enter the courthouse.

[ Visit www.co.jasper.ia.us for more information. ]

For now, staff have been instructed to ask if customers calling for appointments are from Jasper County. Bishop said there are some people who are unhappy with the current appointment system, but a vast majority like it. However, he does expect there will be pushback from out-of-county residents about the new rule.

“And I don’t care,” Bishop said. “We’re all paid by the citizens of Jasper County. They will get first preference. This building is paid for, our wages are paid for. I’m going to make sure that the citizens of Jasper County get their opportunities to get in here first.”

The county treasurer remarked on an experience in which a Polk County resident was unhappy he was denied services from Jasper County and that he prefers not going to the Ankeny office. Bishop said he doesn’t blame him, but he, as an elected official, does have a duty to help his taxpayers.

“Right now, with the things going on, I’m sorry that Ankeny’s not stepping up or Waukee or Marshalltown stepping up to help you out,” Bishop said. “Probably need to call your state senator and say, ‘Why’s this been allowed to happen that our tax dollars aren’t taken care of, all of us here in Polk County?’”

Brandon Talsma, chair of the Jasper County Board of Supervisors, said if the driver’s license did not have appointment-only services and was still open to out-of-county customers, “there wouldn’t be a single Jasper County resident to be seen all day.”

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com