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Committee on Finance 36th Legislature of The Virgin Islands Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Testimony Bureau of Motor Vehicles Thursday July 23, 2026 Good afternoon, 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, Mrs. Mireille Smith, Information Technology (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) 2027 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 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 two vacancies. We are currently in the process of interviewing candidates for the customer service representative (CSR) position on St John and the other position will be posted shortly. All employees in the United Steelworkers Masters Union received their salary increases and backpay that were owed to them. I will take the opportunity at this time to congratulate our employees of the year Mrs. Kerl Joseph in the St Croix District and Mrs. Jannel Edward 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 USVI BMV BUDGET PRESENTATION FY2027 pg. 2 team members. Your exemplary service is truly second to none. We could not have been excellent without employees like you. The BMV’s story is one of resilience, progress, and momentum. Over the past eight (8) years we have transformed ourselves from archaic to agile. This testimony outlines the transformation of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles from a legacy-based system to a modern, efficient, and customer-centered agency. We have committed to modernization, transparency, customer-centric service delivery, improved efficiency, increased revenue performance, employee development, and strategic partnerships. BMV has deployed online services, fully automated the driver’s license system, instituted digital customer service queuing, appointment scheduling, automation of 90% of the forms that the customers would have manually completed, and electronic payment systems; all of which provide real-time data analysis. BMV has increased communication through public campaigns, customer contact centers, social media, newsletters, and improved website access. Transaction times have been reduced from up to 5 hours to approximately 15 minutes for renewals, 30 minutes for driver’s license transactions, and 45 minutes for first- time transactions. USVI BMV BUDGET PRESENTATION FY2027 pg. 3 BUDGET OVERVIEW FISCAL YEAR 2027 BUDGET REQUEST For fiscal year 2027, the recommended budget for the BMV is seven million, fifty eight thousand, four hundred and fifty four dollars ($7,058,454); of which our recommended general fund appropriation is three million eight hundred and thirty- one thousand, one hundred and twenty-eight dollars ($3,831,128), nine hundred and eighty six thousand, two hundred and fifty three dollars ($986,253) from the BMV fund, and two million two hundred and forty one thousand, and seventy-three dollars ($2,241,073) from the personalized license plate fund (PLP fund) . The General Fund and BMV Fund appropriations will be used for personnel and fringe benefits expenses, while the PLP Fund appropriation will be used for supplies, rent, utilities, maintenance, and operating expenses. GENERAL FUND, $3,831,128.00 , 54% PERSONALIZED LICENSE PLATE FUND, $2,241,073.00 , 32% BMV FUND, $986,253.00 , 14% FY 2027 Budget Resources USVI BMV BUDGET PRESENTATION FY2027 pg. 4 PERSONNEL SERVICES, $2,402,425.00 , 63% FRINGE BENEFITS, $1,428,703.00 , 37% FY 2027 GENERAL FUND BUDGET CATEGORY PERSONNEL SERVICES, $622,961.27 , 63% FRINGE BENEFTS, $363,291.87 , 37% FY 2027 BMV FUND BUDGET CATEGORY USVI BMV BUDGET PRESENTATION FY2027 pg. 5 SUPPLIES, $535,760.00 , 24% OTHER SERVICES, $1,240,313.00 , 55% UTILITIES, $125,000.00 , 6% CAPITAL PROJECTS, $340,000.00 , 15% FY 2027 PLP FUND BUDGET CATEGORY USVI BMV BUDGET PRESENTATION FY2027 pg. 6 REVENUES In FY 2025 our revenue collections were ten million, four hundred and fifty-four thousand, two hundred and forty-three dollars, ($10,454,243). We have projected that by the end of FY 2026 our revenue collections will be ten million, five hundred and fifty thousand, eight hundred and thirteen dollars ($10,550,813). As of June 30, 2026, our revenue collections were seven million eight hundred nine thousand nine hundred thirty-nine hundredths ($7,809,939); we are confident that we would have collected the projected revenues. The FY 2027 revenue projection is ten million six hundred fifty thousand ($10,650,000). OVERVIEW OF FY 2026 PROGRESS USVI BMV BUDGET PRESENTATION FY2027 pg. 7 • Our long-term vision for the BMV is the continuous improvement of our service delivery through further automation, the reduction of redundant processes, Capital Improvement and the professional development of our staff. • We have invested a considerable amount of time and resources to ensure that our staff are prepared, efficient and equipped to grow professionally, and possess the requisite skills and knowledge to serve the public in a manner that exemplifies our motto which is: “Excellence is all we do.” The staff participated in training classes to include the BMV internal processes, Cybersecurity, Department of Finance Revenue Collection Policies and procedures training, the ERP revenue collection procedures, Customer Service, Sexual Harassment, and Leadership Training as well. • Our customer relationship management (CRM) is an approach the BMV continues to use to manage the Bureau’s interaction with our current and potential customers. Understanding our customers and stakeholders will continue to allow us to stay connected to customer needs, streamline our diverse processes, employ cost effective strategies, and improve fiscal integrity. 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. Customers were sent copies of our newsletters that highlighted various products and services that we offer. We also posted a Quick Response (QR) code on our office doors as well as on Facebook that customers can access the BMV website to also get information, and schedule appointments. We have added a link to all other GVI agencies on the BMV website, the goal is to assist in providing information beyond BMV services. We have partnered with Microsoft and the Bureau of Information Technology and reviewed how we will be able to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) to assist in improving our response time and communication channels to provide a better customer experience. • We have successfully implemented an internal electronic inventory and asset management system that is built into the BMAP software. The system tracks the management (receipt and distribution) of inventory, the placement and location of assets, and the reduction of manual keystrokes. USVI BMV BUDGET PRESENTATION FY2027 pg. 8 • The Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, accountability, and regulatory compliance; therefore, through our audit staff, we conduct daily and monthly compliance audits. The objectives are to identify and mitigate risks of non-compliance; ensure adherence to procurement, financial, and operational policies; promote continuous improvement and accountability; establish uniformed, systematic, mathematical, and procedurally correct internal controls; and support transparency in the use of public funds. • We continue to collaborate with our strategic partners such as the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs, Taxi Commission, Superior Court, Virgin Islands Police Department, Insurance providers, the National Insurance Crime Bureau, Bureau of Information Technology, VI Insurance Association, the Department of Property and Procurement and the Internal Revenue 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. • A few of our collaborative efforts include the following: o The Bureau of Internal Revenue (IRB) has created a secure online portal through which the BMV can verify the payment of Highway User tax. o The BMV has granted the TAXI Commission access to the BMV database (BMAP), so they can view the records of vehicles that have a taxi class and customers that have taxi endorsements on their license. TCC staff can also upload documents to the BMV database to aid in reducing processing time and to ensure that all the documents that are required by the TCC are added to the customer’s record and available at all times. o We have also granted access to the Department of Property and Procurement to renew the registrations of the GVI fleet and transfer license plates among the fleet. This provides the DPP with better control, and oversight of the process and added another tool to manage the fleet. o The exchange between the BMV and Superior Court’s software continues to function adequately, allowing both systems to identify liens without allowing any transactions if a lien is unpaid. Customers can make payments to the court using their devices, which USVI BMV BUDGET PRESENTATION FY2027 pg. 9 automatically release the lien so that the vehicle transaction can be processed. o We also provide statistical information to the Office of Highway Safety, the VIPD, the Taxi Commission and the Bureau of Economic Research; the data includes unregistered and uninsured commercial vehicles, Taxis, and other vehicles. • We have completed a major paper reduction initiative. The goal of this initiative is to reduce costs and redundancies and improve accuracy and wait time. We have decreased the number of forms that are printed from 23 to 7 forms. We complete the forms electronically and capture the customer signature at the CSR workstation using an electronic pen. Employees are required to email receipts unless a customer requests a printed receipt. Internal communication and requests for work supplies, signatures, and approvals are all done electronically. We no longer store volumes of documents in boxes, since we electronically store most of our records in a safe, and readily available electronic file. • We received a grant award from the Office of Highway Safety in the amount of one hundred and eight-nine thousand and forty-five dollars ($189,045), to complete the implementation of the Point System. We have an ongoing public information and education campaign and have tested the software to capture the data from the Superior Court. Points are automatically assigned to driver's licenses based on the adjudicated information received from the court. As of August 3, 2026, we will be able to analyze the data collected, perform quality control checks to ensure that the process flows as it should, and the data collected is accurate. ▪ We have also reviewed the insurance reporting process and will modify the BMAP software to ensure that the vehicle registration and insurance expire on the same day. This will significantly reduce the number of uninsured vehicles that traverse our roadways. Currently there are approximately ten thousand vehicles that are uninsured; either the owners renewed the policy and did not notify the BMV or failed to renew. If the registration and insurance expiration dates are the same date, this ensures that the BMV is not renewing registrations of vehicles whose insurance would have expired before the next registration date. The ideal solution would be to amend the law to mandate that the insurance companies electronically report to the Lt Governor’s Office USVI BMV BUDGET PRESENTATION FY2027 pg. 10 the status of insurance policies, then the BMV can access the data from one central repository rather than each provider, as is the current arrangement. Nonetheless, we have submitted our interest in grant funds to the Office of Highway Safety to assist in the implementation of the electronic insurance verification process. • To measure our progress, we have identified nine (9) key performance indicators that would 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 all of the nine goals that were set for this fiscal year. We continue to review and respond to the results of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to ensure that we continue to meet our intended goals while delivering quality service to our customers. FY 2027 INITIATIVES USVI BMV BUDGET PRESENTATION FY2027 pg. 11 ▪ We have completed the preliminary work for the development and implementation of the Virgin Islands Commercial Driver’s License. We have received technical assistance to aid us in the successful implementation. We are in the second phase of the process which is to identify certified medical professionals to administer the required medical exams, certified road testers, and certified examiners. ▪ The BMV will explore the probability of creating an App whereby customers can store on their devices, vehicle registration, titles, insurance cards, and a copy of their driver's license so that they will be readily available. ▪ We will be exploring the possibility of a service center specifically for car dealers. The goal is to afford the dealers the privilege to electronically process all transactions to include the initial applications, application renewals, sales and transfers of vehicles, lien placement and removal, and assignment of temporary plates to customers when vehicles are purchased. Upon approval of the fiscal year 2027 budget by this body, we at the BMV strongly believe that along with grant funds we will continue into FY 2027 to achieve our vision “to be a leader in efficient and user-friendly government, which provides real-time solutions and access to GVI services”. 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 2027 Budget, and to share with you a few of our accomplishments for the past year and our plans for FY 2027. We are prepared to answer your questions and engage in further discussions. NOTES USVI BMV BUDGET PRESENTATION FY2027 pg. 12