Clerks ask for patience with transition to new system

Clerks are asking for patiences during processing times could be longer then usual

(Story Courtesy of Kentucky Today)

FRANKFORT, Ky. (KT) – This month, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has been converting from its legacy motor vehicle system implemented in the late 1970’s, known as AVIS to a modern system known as KAVIS, but the transition has not been an easy one.

 “We continue to see improvements with the KAVIS system each week, however, there are still times when the program is unresponsive or specific transactions are not processing,” said Tabatha Clemons, the Grant County Clerk and Kentucky County Clerks Association President. “Because of these issues, we are being forced to turn away customers. It is always our priority to serve our customers, but the new system’s shortfalls are preventing us in some instances.”

The county clerks association is asking customers to be as prepared as possible when they visit their County Clerk. These steps can make the visit more efficient:

--Bring your driver’s license or state issued identification card.

--Bring your renewal notice and previous year’s registration.

--Bring your Kentucky proof of insurance printed or refer to your County Clerk if there is an insurance email address or fax number available.

--Be prepared to wait longer than normal due to the new system having issues with processing and creating PVA issues where Clerks must contact the PVA to correct issues. It takes time to work through each customer’s account and merge vehicles for each customer.

--Web Renewals do have an issue with trailer fees, but the Kentucky County Clerks Association has requested KYTC to turn the web renewal portal back on even with the fee issue with trailers. If you have a trailer to renew, we recommend you wait for further communication when fees are corrected for any trailer transaction.

Naitore Djigbenou with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says, “We are working to resolve any matters that arise following the statewide transition to a modern vehicle information system, which has been eight years in the making. We appreciate customers' patience as we implement this new system to better serve Kentuckians.”

The Cabinet also points out: Online vehicle registration was restored and the ability to renew historic license plates has already been resolved. The need for some clerks to contact the county's Property Valuation Administrator's office is attributed to data management under the old system, not KAVIS performance issues. 

 The Transportation Cabinet is working with the Department of Revenue to identify methods to help clerks clean up data and speed up the clerk's processing times. Once this has been resolved, it will pay big dividends to the Commonwealth in tax collection over time.

KAVIS team continues to monitor the new system's performance to smooth out any bumps in the road and provide technical assistance to clerks beyond the extensive training opportunities offered months before the launch. The project to gradually migrate to KAVIS kicked off in 2015 and six modules were released and implemented since then, including boat titling and registration, a standardized point-of-sale system, disabled placard improvements, print on demand decals and new flat license plates. Fully launching KAVIS to now handle motor vehicle title and registration services is what we deployed in January.