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Missouri Revenue Department Eliminates Printing Costs on Vehicle Registration Renewals |
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Partnership helps reduce costs by nearly $530,000
JEFFERSON CITY -- Now when motor vehicle owners receive registration renewal notices in the mail, they will see a firsthand demonstration of the Missouri Department of Revenue’s good stewardship of tax dollars. A new public-private partnership between the department and Imagitas, Inc., provides evidence of that commitment, as the company will begin printing motor vehicle renewal forms at no cost to the state.
“Since January of 2005, we have reduced vehicle renewal printing and postage costs by 46 percent,” said department director Trish Vincent. “We are always looking for ways to further reduce costs, and this is a great example of that.” Prior to the Blunt administration, vehicle renewal notices cost $1.14 million to print and mail each year. A switch in 2005 to the use of postcards was slated to save about $485,000 per year, and the Imagitas program will save about $44,000 more for a total of nearly $530,000.
Imagitas will offset printing costs using revenue generated by advertising offers included in notices. Beyond the cost savings, the state will receive supplemental recurring revenue from the advertising program when customers respond to advertisements. The new program complies with the federal Driver Privacy Protection Act, preventing the disclosure of personal information about drivers and vehicle owners. Imagitas is not authorized to release any customer information.
The partnership also provides proof of the department’s commitment to customer service. By working together to redesign the format, the department and Imagitas succeeded in improving customer privacy and promoting customers’ renewal options: on-line, by mail or phone, or in person.
“It’s not often that government can improve services, eliminate costs, and develop a new source of recurring revenue without new taxes or fees, but this partnership has enabled us to do just that,” said Vincent.
Guidelines for ads are strict, and renewal notices will state clearly that advertisers are helping defray the costs of government but are not endorsed by the State. While this is the first program of its kind in Missouri, similar programs have been successfully implemented in New York, Florida, Ohio, Minnesota and Massachusetts. According to Imagitas, those states have saved more than $6 million in direct and indirect expenses since 2000 and have received hundreds of thousands of dollars in new revenue from the tightly controlled advertising program.
Date: June 28, 2006
Contact: Maura Browning
Phone: (573) 751-8222 |
