New DMV system brings increased fees for Colorado

The new system installed at the Department of Motor Vehicle offices across Colorado crashed Monday, preventing everyone in the state from getting their driver licenses, instruction permits, and identification cards.

The system was down for about four hours, eventually getting back up and running around 5 p.m. Monday, but there is another issue residents will soon experience. The Colorado Department of Revenue changed fees to follow state statutes and when the new system was installed, those fees came with it.

Some drivers will see increases ranging from a few cents to $50. Val DeSantis of Canon City experienced it firsthand when he took his vehicle to get registered. When he saw his receipt he was surprised by the charges.

DeSantis says he already pays too much at the DMV but that these increased charges, even if only a couple of cents. is absurd.

“I think a lot of that is ridiculous and it’s nickel and dime,” DeSantis says.

While it doesn’t affect him that much, he says for those struggling to make ends meet, it does.

“You know 50 cents isn’t going to break me,” DeSantis says, “it’s just the general principle. You got people out there counting dollars to feed their family. That’s just plain wrong.”

Sarah Werner with the Division of Motor Vehicles for Colorado says the last system was so old it was hard to update the fees.

“We noticed some of the fees in the old system, which was installed in the mid-80s, weren’t being charged correctly,” Werner said. “So when we put the new system into place, we wanted to make sure people were being charged in accordance with the statute as it should be.”

When it comes to how much you can expect to pay, Werner says it depends on a number of things.

“It depends on the weight of the vehicle, it depends on the year of the vehicle. Some may have seen an increase of a few dollars, others may have seen an increase of 50 dollars or more,” says Werner.

She also says the county in which you live in and what car you drive that will affect your payments as well.

Werner added that some drivers actually saw a decrease in their fees, but apologized for the inconvenience it has brought to drivers.