Sedgwick County will likely consolidate its tag offices. Here’s why

Sedgwick County is looking to consolidate its two tag offices into one as it fights with the state over funding.

Operations at the Kellogg office would move to the Douglas tag office at 2525 West Douglas Avenue if the change is approved by the county commission Wednesday. The Kellogg office’s last day of operation would be Oct. 9 with full consolidation beginning Oct. 14.

The county still would have three satellite locations and plans to open three more.

The county’s treasurer said the move is necessary to save the county money as it advocates for more funding for the state-mandated offices.

“Our hands are tied due to the lack of operational funding from the state of Kansas that does not cover our expenses,” Sedgwick County Treasurer Brandi Baily said.

The county tag offices allow residents to renew their car license plates and do vehicle title work in person.

Baily said the consolidation is unlikely to lead to longer wait times because staff from the Kellogg office will move over to Douglas.

“I foresee it all still being the same, we’re just at one location,” she said.

Both tag offices have experienced longer than normal wait times as they deal with an outdated software system, personalized tag renewals, and issuing the state’s new blackout tags, the county said.

The county said the consolidation could save the county around a million dollars from now until 2028 by terminating its lease at the Kellogg office.

Baily said her office and other county treasurers have been advocating for changes from the state for at least eight years, asking for higher fees at the tag office to cover the county’s cost to operate them.

State statute sets the fees that residents are charged at the tag office when they renew their tags or do any title work.

The fees in the statute haven’t been updated in years, causing counties to supplement the operation of their local state-mandated tag offices with property tax dollars to cover rising costs.

“The funding is not there to cover the expenses that… we are currently seeing, and so I have to make a cut somewhere,” Baily said.

Sedgwick County commissioners recently expressed frustrations with the system during their budget discussions.

They decided to cut the county’s supplemental funding for the tag offices from $900,000 to $500,000.

“This is taking it down to the studs in that office while we work with the state to try to change the fee structure,” county commission chair Ryan Baty said last month.

The county is also asking the Kansas Department of Revenue to update its outdated software system. The state hasn’t updated the system since 2007, when it was implemented, and stores data from all 105 of Kansas’ counties. The system has almost weekly crashes, Baily said.

The Kansas Department of Revenue did not respond to a request for comment by publication.

Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson’s office said it’s reviewing whether fee changes are needed.

“This next session, we will be assessing whether it’s the most effective approach to ensure counties retain sufficient fees to meet their obligations,” a statement from his office read.

With the consolidation, the county is reminding residents that it also has three other satellite locations in Derby, Park City, and West Wichita.

It’s also hoping to open three more satellite locations later this year, including in the downtown Ruffin Building and Haysville, and expand hours of operation.

“That opens up more appointments for individuals, so that’s less that are having to come to the main tag office,” Baily said.

The county is also encouraging residents to renew their tags online, if they’re able to, to avoid long lines at the tag office. It also says paperwork can be mailed in or use the county’s dropbox.

Earlier this week, the county set up another showdown with the state, over a cut in state grant funding for Sedgwick County’s adult-probation-services agency, the largest in the state.