Inside the Metcalf Memorial Senior Citizen Center in Anaconda, the Motor Vehicle Division helps distribute driver's licenses to Anaconda residents. However, after January, the location will be closing.

“We try to serve the entire state," explained Laurie Bakri, with Montana's Motor Vehicle Division. "So when we looked at the data and the facts, it made sense to close our Anaconda office and move that one day a week to Madison County."

On Tuesday, MVD representatives sat down with State Sen. Mark Sweeney (D-Philipsburg) to discuss the decision.

"Primarily, it was for personnel and budget reasons, which I find difficult to swallow, because it's only open one day a week," said Sweeney.

The Anaconda MVD facility is only open on Fridays -- and sometimes not at all.

"For example, last Friday, Anaconda was the only station to close across the state for snow," said Bakri. "That puts a burden on other individuals across the state.”

We looked at the budget and found that for the fiscal year of 2022, the Montana Motor Vehicle Division got just under $20 million from state special revenue; that's money collected from licensing fees.

In total, they have just over $22 million for 2022.

"We have 48 locations across the state," said Bakri. "Certainly our big nine are open every day of the week, you know, Butte, Missoula, Billings, Kalispell, Bozeman and the others."

But locations in smaller towns are limited to one day a week -- or even once a month.

We found that most residents go to locations like Butte, where they have the freedom to make an appointment around their schedule.

“We've been looking at our staffing levels, we're looking at no-show rates, we're looking at everything that we have to provide the best service," Bakri explained.

Bakri said Anaconda has a no-show rate of 50% compared to the average across the state of 25%.

So instead of keeping it open, they plan to open a new facility in Madison County -- the closest location for driver's licenses and certifications.

It wouldn’t cost much, as the materials and staff would be shifted from one location to the other, but with the weather getting worse, Sweeney says it's too soon.

"I did ask them to continue current operations and don't shut it down during the heart of winter," said Sweeney.

However, it’s unlikely his request will be enough, as we learned this decision has been in the works for over a year.

It remains to be seen whether the new facility will face the same issues we saw in Anaconda since it will also only be open once a week.