What's New
Audit
Finds Failings at Registry
The Boston Globe
By, John C. Drake - July 10, 2008
The
Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles allowed thousands of repeat drunk
drivers, chronic speeders, and even motorists convicted of vehicular
homicide to stay on the road despite judges' orders that they lose their
driving privileges, according to a report by the state auditor released
yesterday.
The
audit also found that Registry officials failed in another key area: auto
excise taxes. The auditors said owners of luxury vehicles including
Ferraris and Lamborghinis got away with paying a fraction of what they
owed, costing municipalities millions of dollars.
Rachel
Kaprielian, who was recently named registrar, said in response to the
audit that the Registry has been aware of its stumbles and is working on
solutions. She called the failure to promptly suspend and revoke licenses
of motorists convicted in the court system "the most immediate and
pressing challenge" facing the agency.
The
review by state Auditor Joseph DeNucci found that the Registry allowed
about 7,500 to 9,000 drivers to keep their licenses for two to four years
after judges ordered that their driving privileges be suspended or
revoked.
The
problem, identified by analyzing the results of court proceedings in 2005
and 2006, stems from the absence of a good system at either the Registry
or courthouses to enter the results of court proceedings onto Registry
computers, the audit found.
"Too
many motorists are staying on the road long after their licenses have been
suspended or revoked," DeNucci said in an interview. "I'm
optimistic that my audit findings and recommendations will lead to
corrective action that will make our roads safer for everyone."
An
advocate of tough penalties for drunk drivers said he has previously heard
that Registry computers are not kept up to date.
"They
don't take away someone's right to drive for nothing," Ron Bersani,
whose 13-year-old granddaughter Melanie Powell was the namesake of
Melanie's Law, the 2005 law that increased penalties for repeat drunk
drivers. "Really, that's inexcusable. If the courts have gone so far
as taking away someone's right to drive, then clearly they're a
danger."
DeNucci's
audit does not address how many of the motorists violated driving laws
again, while they should have had their licenses suspended or revoked, but
there is anecdotal evidence that the gaps in the system have serious
consequences.
A
Milton firefighter who was nearly killed by a repeat drunk driver last
summer. The driver, C.W. Tolbert Jr. should not have been driving
following his second drunken driving conviction. After Tolbert's
sentencing, Kaprielian said the registry had not been notified by the
courts of the conviction.
Kaprielian
said in an interview that the Registry needs the cooperation of the
state's trial courts to fix the problem. She is assembling a group of
representatives from the Registry, the trial courts, the Executive Office
of Public Safety, State Police, and the Criminal History Systems Board to
close the reporting gap.
"Any
lag time where we have someone driving who shouldn't be is too long,"
she said. "We are very much aware of the matter."
A
trial court spokeswoman, Joan Kenney, said the court system is working on
getting electronic reports into its new computer system, which is being
tested in the East Boston and Ayer district courts.
In
the other major finding, DeNucci's office said that for at least two
years, owners of some fancy cars were drastically underbilled for their
auto excise taxes, causing Massachusetts communities to lose out on
millions in revenues. The audit did not contain a specific estimate of the
losses.
Since
some luxury cars do not have assigned values in the Kelley Blue Book, a
common guide on auto values, an automated Registry system assigned them a
default value of $17,000 in 2003 and 2004. That means the owner of a new
Maserati with a sale value of $325,000 paid taxes of $382.50, instead of
the $7,312 the owner otherwise would have paid, according to the audit.
Then
from 2005 to 2007, owners of vehicles without assigned values were sent no
excise tax bills at all. The problem also applied to many large trucks,
buses, and custom campers that could have values up to $1.5 million.
"The
owners of these types of vehicles haven't been paying close to their fair
share of auto excise taxes," DeNucci said.
Kaprielian
said the problem was discovered last year. She said vehicle owners who
received no bills at all have been sent bills to cover all three years.
But the Registry cannot send new bills to exotic car owners who underpaid,
because of state rules, she said.
"If
they had paid, the Department of Revenue bars us from collecting
again," Kaprielian said. "It's always something we need to be
aware of, making sure owners of obscure luxury cars are being assessed at
their value."
Donna
S. VanderClock, Weston's town manager, said that municipalities had been
notified of the problem about six months ago but that she did not know how
severely it had affected her town's budget.
"Of
course, car values should be stated correctly, and people should be taxed
on whatever their fair market value of their vehicle is," she said.
"The values are set by the Registry, so it's out of our
control."