Wooster BMV office 'temporarily closed'
Jarred Opatz
WOOSTER - People hoping to renew a driver's license or register a vehicle at the Wayne County Bureau of Motor Vehicles this week have been out of luck.
A "temporarily closed" sign has greeted them.
"The Wooster BMV is temporarily closed as of Aug. 2 until a new contract is in place," said Lindsey Bohrer, Ohio BMV assistant director of communications.
In the meantime, Bohrer said people can visit BMV locations nearby.
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- Orrville, 1430 W High St., Suite 3
- Ashland, 1070 Commerce Parkway
- Millersburg, 75 E. Clinton St., Suite 103
- Wadsworth, 123 Broad St., Suite A
- Massillon, 1972 Wales Road NE, Suite 1
Also as a reminder, many services can be done online through OPLATES.com, Bohrer added.
Being able to do online services through the Ohio BMV is some of the reason for the temporary closure at the Wooster BMV at 200 Vanover St.
That and several other reasons led to declining revenue at the office the past several years and Wayne County Auditor Jarra Underwood relinquishing her role as its deputy registrar.
Underwood's decision to not renew her contract with the Ohio BMV was announced Wednesday, July 20, in a news release and to the Wayne County BMV employees in a letter saying their jobs were being abolished on Aug. 3.
The Ohio BMV, which oversees the BMVs in the state even if they are run by private owners or nonprofit organizations, had hoped to have a replacement deputy registrar in place by Wednesday so service to the Wooster office wouldn't be interrupted.
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Due to employees testing positive with COVID, Underwood said the office closed Monday, a few days before her last official day as deputy registrar.
"It’s unfortunate," Underwood said. "I’m wishing them a quick recovery."
On July 20, Underwood said it was unfortunate it wasn't feasible for her to continue to oversee the BMV office, which the Wayne County auditor has been in charge of since 1999 with four- and five-year contracts throughout the years.
According to the July 20 news release, Underwood said carryover funds were no longer at a sufficient level to reliably fill the gap between future revenue and operating expenses.
“If I would have to go to the general fund for money to operate the office, it would create a burden to the taxpayers,” Underwood said in the release. “I can’t justify continuing to operate the BMV and allow that to occur.”
While the agency has had profits the past three years of $12,000 (2019), $21,000 (2020) and $28,000 (2021), deficits of $51,710 in 2017 and $24,117 in 2018 were difficult to recover, said Underwood, who added expenditures are $500 over revenue for 2022 so far, and she had a $24,000 payout to a longtime employee who retired in March 2022. Another employee retired on Aug. 1, leaving three employees, all full time.
Unlike private owners or nonprofit organizations, a BMV run by a county official is required to provide health insurance, paid vacation, sick time, paid holidays and contribute to P.E.R.S. (Public Employees Retirement System) for full-time employees.
With Underwood leaving the position, Ohio only has three BMVs run by county auditors. Some are run clerk of courts like the Holmes County one in Millersburg, but most are run by private owners or nonprofits.
Wayne County Commissioner Ron Amstutz said earlier that the county is more than willing to lease the space to a new owner, which should help with bringing in a new owner to the BMV office at 200 Vanover St. and changing the "temporarily closed" sign to "open."