Denver motor vehicle offices are running at about 55% staffing, with rotating closures continuing
Denver motor vehicle officials told a City Council committee on June 9 that turnover, leave and lengthy training have left the agency operating at about 55% effective staffing, contributing to early line cutoffs, staff reassignments and rotating branch closures as the city weighs service changes.
Denver’s motor vehicle offices are running at about 55% effective staffing, department officials told City Council’s Finance and Business Committee on June 9, a shortfall the department said is contributing to daily staff reassignments, rotating branch closures and longer waits for residents trying to title or register vehicles.
Residents are already seeing those disruptions. On Denver’s official motor vehicle page, the city says in-person lines close once they reach capacity, “typically before 1:30 p.m.,” even though branches are scheduled to stay open until 3:30 p.m. The page also says one branch closes for a week at a time on a rotating basis because of staffing.
The city’s posted closure schedule shows the Southeast branch at 2243 S. Monaco St. Parkway #102 closed June 8-12, the Southwest branch at 3100 S. Sheridan Blvd. #A1 is scheduled to close June 15-19, the Northeast branch at 4685 Peoria St. #101 is scheduled to close June 22-26, and the Northwest branch at 3698 W. 44th Ave. #D is scheduled to close June 29 through July 3. The city says online services and kiosk locations remain available during those shutdowns.
What Monday’s briefing added was a public explanation for those service problems and an outline of possible changes. Department officials told the committee the staffing gap reflects turnover, employee leave and the training time required before new hires can work independently. Officials also said the current practice of moving employees between branches and closing locations on a rotating basis has hurt morale and made scheduling harder.
During the briefing, officials said they want to keep regular residential service available in all four quadrants of the city and end the rolling closures. They also said the Tremont location at 2855 Tremont Place could shift to a commercial-focused center serving fleets, dealers and other high-volume business transactions instead of operating as a standard residential walk-in site.
Officials also said they are evaluating possible service changes including appointments, pay-by-phone and technology updates such as website, signage and chatbot improvements. But they cautioned that, under current demand, an appointment system could create a backlog lasting months.
There is still a gap between those discussions and the options residents can use now. The current city webpage says the department cannot accept payments over the phone, even though officials discussed pay-by-phone as a possible future option Monday. For now, the city emphasizes kiosks, online transactions, mail and drop boxes as the main alternatives to waiting in line.
The briefing also suggested the staffing problem is unlikely to ease immediately. Officials told the committee they have hired a new trainee class and expect service to improve once those employees complete training, but they did not provide a firm date for ending rotating closures or launching any of the proposed service changes.
For now, the clearest near-term changes for residents remain the weekly branch shutdown schedule, early line cutoffs and the department’s acknowledgment that little more than half of its needed staffing is effectively in place.