IfG.CC - The Potsdam eGovernment Competence Center

The Internet has made it possible for users to purchase almost anything online, and one day Gordon County motorists may even be able to purchase their car tags via the World Wide Web. According to Gordon County Tax Commissioner Peggy Smith, it will be around six months before the program initiated by the Department of Motor Vehicle Safety (DMVS) is considered here. “We’re going to wait and see how the other counties like it and how well it works before we start it here,” Smith said. “But I think it’s a great program.” Smith said she would need to acquire permission from the Gordon County Board of Commissioners before implementing the program here. “Right now, we only accept cash and checks for the purchase or renewal of car tags, and this program would require us to accept credit cards,” she explained. “But I’ve been talking with a company that would provide this service for us at no cost to the county.”

The DMVS began expanding the Internet Tag Renewal Program this month and welcomed Cobb County to the program following a pilot program launched on Dec. 1, 2001 in Bibb, Chatham, Douglas, Fulton, Gwinnett, and Whitfield counties. Six other counties soon followed suit, including DeKalb, Lowndes, Spalding, Clayton, Columbia, and Rockdale. Since its inception, more than 66,000 Georgians have chosen to renew their vehicle registrations via the Department’s Web site: www.dmvs.ga.gov. “As this Internet Tag Renewal Pilot Project has emerged, we have monitored the processes and procedures concerning online registrations very closely,” said Tim Burgess, DMVS commissioner. “We believe that the reliability of the process has been established, and we are now ready to include any additional county in Georgia that wishes to offer their citizens the option of renewing their motor vehicle registration online.”

A priority of the DMVS has been to make departmental services more convenient and accessible to the citizens while preserving the privacy and integrity of personal information, he added. “The ability to renew vehicle tags on the Internet does just that,” Burgess said. “It allows instant renewal and is available seven days a week around the clock. It is a quick, secure, and convenient way to renew vehicle registrations.” The DMVS marked its emergence into “e-government” by offering an online Automobile Dealer Inquiry service in October 2001. Certified Requestors may now obtain motor vehicle reports online, and since July 2002 thousands of Georgians have been able to renew their drivers’ licenses and identification cards on the Internet.

Quelle: Calhoun Times