Registry chief's letter tries to drive home a warning on cuts
Says 11 branches would be closed
Registrar of Motor Vehicles Rachel Kaprielian is warning lawmakers that the public would see more than 10 Registry branches closed, longer lines, and higher fees under the budget proposal currently before the Massachusetts House.
Unless the House Ways and Means budget is amended, "I have no choice but to close at least 11 branches throughout the state and significantly reduce the number of staff to serve at the counter," Kaprielian said Monday in a letter to state representatives as they embarked on a weeklong debate on the fiscal 2010 spending plan.
With those branches closed, she said, people would have to drive an average of 30 to 40 minutes more to get to a Registry outlet, and wait times could exceed two hours in more than two-thirds of the remaining branches.
There are 35 Registry branches throughout the state.
She also noted that the budget calls for a $75 million increase in fees, including license and registration costs. "In short, everyone as of July 1, 2009, will be paying more," she said in the letter.
"I'm just trying to be frank about the reality," Kaprielian said yesterday in an interview. "I think it's important to forewarn. I think legislators want to know what to expect.
"What I'm facing is a lot at once, and there is a customer service impact that is disproportionate" to other state agencies.
Kaprielian said in the letter that the Ways and Means budget allocates $49 million for her agency, a decline of about $5 million from her budget for the current fiscal year.
The governor's budget proposed $50.3 million for the agency.
After approving a 25 percent increase in the sales tax Monday, the House has been restoring funding to various areas of the budget. Kaprielian said she was hoping to get her budget boosted through an amendment.
The amendment "will be addressed this week as part of the budget debate," Seth Gitell, a spokesman for House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, said in a statement.
A message left at the office of the Ways and Means chairman, Charles A. Murphy, was not immediately returned.
Kaprielian said there would be changes ahead, no matter what happens.
"We will try to streamline our branch operations, in any event. I just am hoping it will not be as drastic."
The House budget debate is expected to continue through tomorrow.
The Senate will then unveil, debate, and pass a budget before the two chambers work out a compromise and send it to the governor for his signature.
