Computer error delays car-tag renewal notices

LARRY AULT ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

A computer glitch prevented about 6,000 Arkansas motorists from getting notices that their vehicle licenses were about to expire, a state official said Wednesday. "We've already preprinted those, and they've been sent out," said Fred Porter, administrator of the state Department of Finance and Administration's Motor Vehicle Office. Porter said his office gets complaints every month from vehicle owners who haven't received a vehicle license renewal notice. The agency began examining the system for problems a week ago. They found one and corrected it Tuesday, he said

Porter said it was unclear why the notices weren't being sent out, adding that the agency's computer may have been malfunctioning as far back as last summer.

"We're going to go back to July and look to be sure," he said. "If we find there are any others, we'll send them a renewal notice. There won't be any penalties." The missing renewal notices were being printed Wednesday and will be mailed out today, he said. The computer glitch didn't pick on residents of any one county, he said, describing the error as "a registration here, a registration there." Typically, the agency mails out 145,000 to 175,000 notices each month, Porter said. Any Arkansas motorists whose car tags are due in February but haven't received notices to renew them should call the department, he said. The problem didn't affect driver's license renewal notices. Mike Munns, administrator of the state driver's license services, said his department had not received any reports of people failing to get renewal notices.

http://www.ardemgaz.com/today/ark/B6xcomputer25.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), January 25, 2001