Committee on Finance 36th Legislature of The Virgin Islands Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Testimony Bureau of Motor Vehicles Tuesday July 1, 2025 Good morning, Senator Novelle E. Francis, Jr., Chair of the Committee on Finance, members of the Committee on Finance, other members of the 36th legislature, the listening and viewing audience. I am Barbara Jackson- McIntosh, Director of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. I am here with members of the BMV team, Assistant Director Mr. Patrick Sprauve; Ms. Mireille Smith, IT Project Manager; Ms. Simonia Michel, Deputy Director of Human Resources/Payroll & Labor Relations; and Ms. Linda Lloyd, Chief Financial Officer. We are here to provide testimony on our Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget for the operations of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The mission of the BMV is to provide the public with drivers’ licensing, vehicle titling, vehicle registration services, and other business transactions required by law. Our vision is to be a leader in efficient and user-friendly government, which provides real-time solutions and USVI BMV BUDGET PRESENTATION FY 2026 pg. 2 access to GVI (Government of the Virgin Islands) services. The bureau has two key divisions: administrative support services and customer services. Within the BMV there are five functional activities: 1) Office of the Director, 2) Administration, 3) Drivers’ Licensing and Identification, 4) Registration and Inspection, and 5) Records Management and Information Systems. Currently the BMV’s personnel strength status is sixty- three (63) authorized positions. We have five vacancies, we have completed the interview process for one of the vacancies and will begin interviewing for another position in the next week, the other three vacancies will be posted shortly. All employees in the United Steelworkers Masters Union as well as non-union classified employees received their salary increases and backpay that were owed. I will take the opportunity at this time to congratulate our employees of the year Ms. Linda Lloyd in the St Croix District and Ms. Simonia Michel in the St Thomas / St. John District. These employees were selected from among the team of hardworking and excellent employees, who truly exemplify our motto, which is “Excellence is all we do.” The management of the BMV deeply appreciates you and the rest of our team members. USVI BMV BUDGET PRESENTATION FY 2026 pg. 3 BUDGET OVERVIEW FISCAL YEAR 2026 BUDGET REQUEST For fiscal year 2026, the recommended budget for the BMV is six million, four hundred and eighty-six thousand, nine hundred and fifty four dollars ($6,486,954); of which our recommended general fund appropriation is three million five hundred and ninety-six thousand, three hundred and sixty-five dollars ($3,596,365), one million dollars ($1,000,000) from the BMV funds, and one million eight hundred and ninety thousand, five hundred and eighty-nine dollars ($1,890,589) from the personalized license plate fund (PLP fund) . The General Fund and BMV Fund appropriations will be used for personnel services, while the PLP Fund appropriation will be used for supplies, rent, utilities, maintenance, and operating expenses. USVI BMV BUDGET PRESENTATION FY 2026 pg. 4 GENERAL FUND, $3,596,365.00 , 56% PERSONALIZED LICENSE PLATE FUND, $1,890,589.00 , 29% BMV FUND, $1,000,000.00 , 15% FY 2026 BUDGET RESOURCES USVI BMV BUDGET PRESENTATION FY 2026 pg. 5 PERSONNEL SERVICES, $2,307,913.00 , 64% FRINGE BENEFITS, $1,288,452.00 , 36% FY 2026 GENERAL FUND BUDGET CATEGORY USVI BMV BUDGET PRESENTATION FY 2026 pg. 6 FY 2026 BMV FUND BUDGET CATEGORY PERSONNEL SERVICES, $636,238.51 , 64% FRINGE BENEFTS, $342,177.34 , 34% SUPPLIES, $21,584.15 , 2% SUPPLIES, $615,300.00 , 32% OTHER SERVICES, $1,001,289.00 , 53% UTILITIES, $124,000.00 , 7% CAPITAL PROJECTS, $150,000.00 , 8% FY 2026 PLP FUND BUDGET CATEGORY USVI BMV BUDGET PRESENTATION FY 2026 pg. 7 REVENUES We have projected that at the end of FY 2025 our revenue collections will be ten million, five hundred and fifty thousand, eight hundred and thirteen dollars ($10,550,813). As of May 30, 2025, our revenue collections were seven million, one hundred and thirty-three thousand, eight hundred and eighty-nine dollars ($7,133,889). We are on track to meet our FY 2025 revenue goal that was set. OVERVIEW OF FY 2025 PROGRESS • Our long-term vision for the BMV is the continuous improvement of our delivery of service through automation, the reduction of redundant processes, and the professional development of our staff. • To measure our progress, we have identified nine (9) key performance indicators that capture and provide insight into our overall performance. We have set goals based on past performance, predicted trends, and considered the myriads of service delivery options and customer needs. To date we have met seven (7) of the USVI BMV BUDGET PRESENTATION FY 2026 pg. 8 nine goals that were set for this fiscal year. We are confident that we will reach the other two goals by the end of FY 2025. We continue to respond to the results of the KPIs by encouraging the usage of our online services, primarily for the renewal of driver’s licenses and registrations, which are two areas of concern. • The staff continuously participates in training classes in various subject matters to include the BMV internal processes, Cybersecurity, Customer Service, Active Threat, First aid-CPR, Ethics, fire extinguisher, document inspection and Sexual Harassment. • We continue to strengthen the customer communication channels via our online Contact Center that provides responses to customer inquiries either using the virtual agent or a customer service representative. • The operation and process flow in all our offices continue to improve the BMV customer experience. The average wait time in the St. Thomas office has been consistently thirty minutes (30 minutes) except for the last five (5) days of the month our average wait time is forty-five minutes (45 minutes). While in the St Croix and St John offices the average wait time is USVI BMV BUDGET PRESENTATION FY 2026 pg. 9 fifteen (15) minutes except for the last three days in the month the average wait time is twenty minutes (20 minutes). • We continue to collaborate with our strategic partners such as the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs, Taxi Commission, Superior Court, the VI Internal Revenue Bureau, the Virgin Islands Police Department, Insurance providers, and the National Insurance Crime Bureau, to name a few; this has allowed the BMV to leverage data and information as a means of improving internal accuracy and efficiency of documents issued. • We have completed a major paper reduction initiative; the final process was evaluated and will be implemented next month. The goal of this initiative is to reduce costs and redundancies and improve accuracy and data entry. USVI BMV BUDGET PRESENTATION FY 2026 pg. 10 FY 2026 INITIATIVES ▪ We received a grant award from the Office of Highway Safety to complete the implementation of the Points System. The proposed cost is two hundred and thirty-seven thousand and eighty-nine dollars ($237,089.00). The Bureau of Motor Vehicles has successfully completed the internal development of the VI Points System process flow. This framework outlines the procedures for tracking and managing driver violation points. However, implementation is currently pending a critical legislative amendment. Under the existing law (Title 20, § 801 of the Virgin Islands Code), a driver who accumulates 12 or more points must have their license suspended through a formal petition to the court by the Director of the BMV to streamline enforcement and enhance road safety, we have requested an amendment that would authorize the BMV to administratively suspend a license once the 12-point threshold is reached— eliminating the need for court intervention. ▪ We have begun the preliminary work for the development and implementation of the Virgin Islands Commercial Driver’s License. We are receiving USVI BMV BUDGET PRESENTATION FY 2026 pg. 11 ongoing training and technical assistance to aid us in the successful implementation. The process is slower than planned because of the various pieces and parts that must be considered such as the required annual medical data, drug and alcohol requirement, entry level driver training, testing records, problem driver points assigned to the CDL, public information and education, the BMV website update, USVI CDL manual, employer notification system, and driving schools accreditation. ▪ May 7, 2025, was the deadline for people who wish to utilize a Real-ID Identification Card or Real-ID Driver's license as a travel document. Our REAL-ID is indeed REAL as determined by the US Department of Homeland Security. We remind customers that if you have a passport, green card, or any other valid travel documents, you do not have to use your REAL ID. Upon approval of the fiscal year 2026 budget by this body, we at the BMV strongly believe that along with grant funds we will continue into FY 2026 to achieve our vision “to be a leader in efficient and user-friendly government, which provides real-time solutions and access to GVI services”. USVI BMV BUDGET PRESENTATION FY 2026 pg. 12 As we move forward, we will revolutionize how we provide services to our customers that will elevate, enhance, and personalize how our services are provided via exploring, investigating, and adopting the most creative platforms available. The BMV will also continue to work more efficiently, effectively, and economically to build customer value, while simultaneously being mindful to take equal care of both our employees and our customers. Mr. Chair, I thank you, the members of the Committee on Finance and other members of the 36th Legislature for inviting me and Team BMV to present our Fiscal Year 2026 Budget, and to share with you a few of our accomplishments for the past year and our plans for FY 2026. We are prepared to answer your questions and engage in further discussion. USVI BMV BUDGET PRESENTATION FY 2026 pg. 13 NOTES