Stinging DMV Renewal Bills Traced to a Bug in Computer

When Dixon Gayer’s wife bought him his $40,000 Lexus sedan last year, she told him he should feel like royalty. But when he got his first renewal bill from the Department of Motor Vehicles for $1,710 this week, he said he felt more like a pauper.

“I looked at the bill and knew there had to be some sort of mistake. I was definitely not counting on paying that much,” said the retired Cal State Long Beach journalism professor from his Huntington Beach home on Tuesday.

Gayer was not alone.

Because a Sacramento computer operator incorrectly programmed a new fee schedule, the DMV has made its most widespread billing snafu in recent history.

DMV officials said that about 330,000 Californians were mailed erroneous bills during the last week, some of which reflected renewal charges of up to $2,500 for Volkswagen bugs, Ford Pintos and other modest means of transportation.

The fees are determined by a formula that is based on a car’s value.

Gayer’s bill should have been $658 for the Lexus. A couple in Westminster were billed $2,089 to register a 10-year-old car for which the fee should have been $54.

“There appears to be no rhyme or reason for the way people were charged,” Dale said.

“We’ve had (computer and billing) problems before,” DMV spokesman Bill Gengler said. “but nothing of this magnitude.”

But if you’ve received a registration renewal bill that literally takes your breath away, DMV officials said, not to worry. The computer system is fixed and car owners with bollixed bills will get corrected ones soon.

The problem occurred Sept. 24 when a computer operator was attempting to revise the fee schedule for the five 1920 Rolls-Royces registered in California. In the process, he accidently changed the programming for all cars with renewal dates of Nov. 16, 18 and 20. As a result, bills to 421,000 people throughout the state were printed out wrong, Gengler said.

About 91,000 were caught before they were mailed out when the DMV discovered the mistake Friday. But about 330,000 were mailed out before the error was caught, Gengler said.

Of those mailed out, about 41,000 were too high, Gengler said. The remainder of the bills undercharged for registration renewals.

Those who have already paid will get a refund or will be billed for the balance.

Gengler said that those with erroneous bills should not contact their DMV branch office but should wait for the corrected bill to arrive in the mail.