August 5, 2025 • 33 mins
A new audit of the North Carolina DMV uncovers systemic problems and recommends separating the agency from the Department of Transportation. Mitch Kokai provides updates on several major legal challenges across the state. Meanwhile, victims of Tropical Storm Chantal are now eligible to apply for SBA disaster loans.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
It's five oh five and welcome in to a Tuesday
edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour News Talk eleven
ten ninety nine three WBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good morning
to you. There have been a couple of different legal
stories that we've been tracking over the last couple of
The long awaited audit of the Division of Motor Vehicle
here in the state of North Carolina was released Monday
(00:28):
by State Auditor Dave Bullock. It is a very lengthy
report with some pretty significant recommendations. To walk us through
some of those details, Teresa Opeka, Carolina Journal dot com
joins us on the News Hour. Teresa, DMV has been
a pain in a lot of folks sides across the
state for a number of years. State Auditor Dave Bullock
says he's got some plans and some solutions to maybe
(00:50):
solve some of those problems. You're at the press conference
on Monday or what did you take away from it?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Sure? Good morning, Nick, Thanks for having me so. Yeah,
you know, Auditor bull likened the situation with the DMV
to Hurricane Helene western North Carolina. It's that much of
an emergency. That's what his words were at that press
conference on Monday. You know, it's things that affect people,
(01:17):
they have to take time off from work, from school.
He said, it's just unnecessary. He mentioned seeing a report
in the news yesterday morning where there were people waiting
as early as four am at the Avant Faery DMV
in Raleigh, and he says, it's just unacceptable. This has
got to stop and you need to have a new
plan in place. So yeah, the audit is four hundred
(01:41):
and thirty five pages. They've been working on this for
about six months. They've had twenty auditors working on it
with other people from different universities like North NC State,
North Carolina State University, the Bryant School of Business and
Economics at UNC Greensboro, and a host of others to
(02:02):
give those recommendations over a slew of issues that are
affecting the DMV. A lot of them we know. Obviously
we talked about the lines that people are waiting in
or taking time off of work, but there's some other
interesting aspects to this audit as well.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
I guess we should probably start off with, which was
one of the more significant recommendations is that currently DMV
sits under the North Carolina Dot Department of Transportation State
Auditor Dave Bollock made the recommendation and made his case
pretty clearly on Monday that the DMV and DOT should
no longer be the same agency and DMV should kind
(02:39):
of operate almost completely separately for reason. That would be
a major change in North Carolina.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
It would it, definitely, would, you know? He said, that
is the biggest issue. What they found with the audits
a fractured relationship between the DMV and the DOT. You know,
the current structure limits the DMV strategic input. They also
should have a budget autonomy, according to Auditor Bullock, and
modernization involvement. They're not having enough involvement for you know,
(03:10):
the money that they're taking in. As he said, the
DOT needs the DMV, not the other way around, because
the DMV currently generates about thirty percent of the dot's
revenues but accounts only for about three percent of the
expenditures while lacking sufficient operational authority. So they need to
have their own plan. They need to be basically independent
(03:33):
of the DOT. And while we have Secretary of Transportation
Joey Hopkins and the DMV Commissioner Paul Tyne agreeing with
every other recommendation in this audit, Separating the two were
the only thing they did disagree on. They said that
that wasn't a thing that was necessary according to them.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Yeah, and again you look at those numbers, and the
state auditor mentioned those. When you're pulling in thirty percent
of the revenue for a state agency and you're just
seeing a mini school amount being spent, that is obviously
creating some problems. And you know, Teresa, I saw this
commentary online after the press conference of oh, well, all
these recommendations are things that we already knew, discussions about
(04:13):
staffing shortages, not enough employees, And I thought to myself,
if well, if we already knew all of these things,
then why have they been plaguing the state of North
Carolina for ten or fifteen or twenty years. It sounds
pretty simple, but the problem hasn't gotten any better. It's
gotten worse.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
It definitely has gotten worse, especially over the last five years.
But interesting comment that Auditor bowl mentioned made. He says,
what we're seeing is that the government was paying attention
to what was going on previously, something would have been
done to assist the DMV, and that may have been
at the Secretary's level where it was stopped. But they
didn't go that deep into it. But the fact of
(04:50):
the matter is, this mess did not happen overnight. I'm
using the word mess. So he said he's going to
continue to be like a dog with a bone on
the DMV and hopefully in implementation. But he makes a
good point. It's been going on for a number of years. Yes,
it's gotten worse over the past five years, but it's
been going back even further than that. So you got
(05:11):
to wonder, you know, who truly is at fault for
all of this.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
One of the interesting metrics that the auditor actually brought
forward was that it was taking people over an hour
from when they actually checked in to getting their business done.
But he made the point and emphasized Teresa, that did
not include a three, four, five, six, maybe seven hour
wait in a line outside of the building before you
got checked in. That's a substantial amount of time. You've
(05:38):
got people taking days off of work, not getting paid
to get a real idea stand outside of the DMV.
That is not sustainable long term, is it.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
I wouldn't say it would be no, absolutely not. Yeah,
like you said that that one and one hour fifteen
minute is from check in only. That's up fifteen fifteen
point five percent twenty nineteen. But as you say, it's
not accounting for the time in line, you know. And
also another really striking statistic he pointed up for an example,
(06:12):
there's one driver's license examiner for the whole county, Harnett County,
for fifty six thousand people.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
One.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
I mean there was other ones that were low too,
but that was a striking figure. I mean, how are
you going to possibly handle all of that one driver's
license examiner? So there are other things he looked at,
he says, he talked about maybe getting pop up shops.
You see those maybe in the mall, Halloween shops that
come outs or you know, or whatever kind of shop
(06:41):
one might be. I'll even say a fireworks tent. But
something that would actually help maybe spur things along that
people are not waiting in line, out in the heat,
out in the cold winds in winter, wintertime, stuff like
of that nature. Maybe even giving what he said is
a he would call a fast pass, or you would
go to the license plate agency to get your license
(07:03):
quicker for an additional fee. It's thinking of all different things.
One thing he noted to the kiosks that were instituted
a couple of years ago really are not living up
to what they were expected to be. They're not getting
as many customers as they thought, so he thought maybe
they should be moved to the license plate agency as well.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Yeah, those kiosks are interesting. Those were brought out as
a pilot a couple of years ago. But from everything
I've read online about them, and I know we've had
some coverage over at Carolina Journal dot com, Teresa, they
were essentially just a web browser of everything that you
could already do on the my DMV website. So there
wasn't really a whole lot of additional and added features
on those kiosks. So it pretty seems like a pretty
(07:43):
solid recommendation there from auditor Bolock.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Yeah, and one other thing to note to you, and
mentioned about the website, we shouldn't neglect that the outdated
technology which we've heard about before, the main frame is cobal.
He made another funny comment. I can't think of it now,
but it's like a DASS system or an old time
system from the eighties, basically an old mainframe that that's
working on. And he said another interesting fact it's not
(08:10):
just DMV that's running on that kind of mainframe, it's
many government offices across the state, so that's an additional
problem to worry about as well. But outdated technology, he said,
that should be probably I'll take about four to six
years implement. He said. It could be faster, he said,
but the main goal right now is to hire more examiners.
You know. The General Assembly appropriate money in their mini budget,
(08:33):
which is awaiting action from Governor Stein, but forty more positions,
he says. That's a start, but it's not definitely not enough,
you know.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
And on the staffing front, I heard something interesting out
of the auditor's mouth that I guess inherently I knew
but I didn't really think about, was that these salary
positions need to or the salaries for some of these
positions Teresa need to meet the demands of the areas.
He talked about hiring somebody in Raleigh or Charlotte versus
somebody in rural eastern or western North Carolina. The pay
(09:07):
scale should be adjusted to make it so that it's
a feasible income depending on the region of the state,
which can vary drastically if you're in or out of
a major metropolitan area.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Right right, because, like you said, the cost of living
is so different from Raleigh or Charlotte versus maybe a
very rural area and maybe the northeastern part of the
state or something of that nature. So yeah, that's another
a good point that he brought up as well.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Let me ask you this, Theresa. We've seen a lot
of different audits of a lot of different state agencies.
A lot of times it's unfortunately rinse and repeat with
this audit from State Auditor Dave Bollock. As you noted
all of the recommendations minus DOT and DMV splitting and
no longer being the same agency, We're noted by the
leadership of those two entities. Do we have any idea
(09:58):
if there's going to be any movement on any of this?
How does this process unfold? The audit is out in public,
everybody can read it and has access to it. What
are the next steps here?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Yeah, so right now, there are a few points that
Auditor Bullock said that the Commissioner Time and Secretary Hopkins
are working on at the moment. So there are a
few things that they are implementing and getting and getting
in place. We said they're definitely on board with a
lot of suggestions recommendations as well as Governor Stein. So
(10:30):
hopefully there will be some significant movement in this area versus,
as you say, other agencies maybe like hurricane relief eastern
North Carolina. Will you know what, we see different meetings
all the time the legislature, nothing really gets done. So
hopefully they are working on some of these issues. But
like I said, it's not an overnight process. It's not
going to be fixed, you know, overnight, earn one day.
(10:52):
But hopefully they are making some significant and meaningful movement
in that direction.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
This is a lengthy report, over four hundred pages. You've
got to really extensive write up on it. Teresa. Wherekin
folks get those details, sure.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
They can head on over to Carolina Journal dot com.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Teresa Peka joins us this morning on the Carolina Journal
News Hour. It's five twenty three. Welcome back to the
Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk eleven ten ninety nine
three wb T. If you miss any of our program
weekday mornings five to six, you can check out our
(11:28):
Carolina Journal News Hour podcast. It's available in Google Play,
Apple Podcasts, Spotify, anywhere you get your shows. Search for
the Carolina Journal News Hour. Tap that subscribe or follow
button and take a new program with you each and
every weekday morning. It's the Carolina Journal News Hour podcast.
Download and subscribe. Now, there have been a couple of
(11:48):
different legal stories that we've been tracking over the last
couple of weeks and months here on the Carolina Journal
News Hour. To walk us through some of these details,
this morning, Mitch Cochi with the John Locke Foundation joins
us on the Carolina Journal News Mitch, over the last
few weeks, we've talked about a fair elections lawsuit that's
been ongoing in the state of North Carolina. You've got
a pretty substantial update on that this morning. What's the
(12:10):
latest that you're tracking there.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
Yes, you might remember that former State Supreme Court Justice
Bob Orr has gone to court with some plaintiffs. He
had nine Democratic voters and two independents who say that
North Carolina should have a constitutional right to fair elections.
It's not spelled out anywhere in the constitution, but basically
the argument is that everything else that is in the
(12:34):
constitution implies that there should be this right to fair elections.
Bob Orr is asking that the state court system turn
what is it implied right into an actual right by
saying in a court decision that there is this right
to fair elections, and then it would use the right
to fair elections to throw out some congressional and legislative districts. Now,
(12:57):
Bob Or lost unanimously to a three judge superior court
panel on this topic and has taken the case to
the Court of Appeals. And the last time you and
I spoke, Or had asked the state Court of Appeals
to hold an oral argument as it moves forward with
this case. After we spoke, there was another court filing
(13:17):
from the Republican legislative leaders who are defending this case,
who said, hey, this is improper and it's untimely because
the Court of Appeals had already decided not to hold
an oral argument, and they said, there's no reason to
hold an oral argument anyway, because everything is fairly clear
from what's already been filed in the court briefing. Well,
(13:39):
the latest development is that the Court of Appeals said, no,
there's going to be no oral argument. A three judge
appellate court panel, all three Republicans coincidentally, are going to
consider the case without.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
An oral argument.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
On August thirteenth, and then presumably at some point afterward
we'll come out with a decision. My suspicion is because
there is no oral argument that could mean that we'll
have a fairly quick decision on this. It seems as
if the judges have kind of looked at what's been filed,
figure they don't need any more information. They'll be able
to come out with a decision based on what they've read.
(14:17):
So we might have some sort of resolution at least
on the appeals court level to this case sooner rather
than later. If Or loses once again at the appeals court,
he could take it to the State Supreme Court, but
depending on how the appeals court rules, the Supreme Court
wouldn't necessarily have to take that case, which means that
(14:37):
the appeals court ruling could be the final ruling in
this case and it could be resolved in a matter
of months rather than perhaps a matter of years if
it ends up going to the State Supreme Court.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
And so we'll wait and watch for that middle August
court date and continue to track the details there. Now,
changing gears to another legal battle we've been watching in
This was one of many between the newly elected and
newly sworn and Governor in Josh Stein and Republican leaders
in the General Assembly mitch over various appointments to various commissions,
(15:11):
utilities and boards. Now we're talking about the North Carolina
Utilities Commission. What's the latest going on there.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
Yeah, this is interesting in that you might remember we
spoke about the fact that Governor Josh Stein decided not
to appeal a court ruling against him on the appointment
of the Highway Patrol commander. That was one particular lawsuit
he filed. He lost at the trial court level and
ended up deciding near the deadline not to appeal that ruling.
(15:39):
So what the General Assembly did in forcing Stein to
keep the current highway patrol commander stays in place. But
there was another case involving another suit from Josh Stein,
where he sued over three different things together. One was
filling judicial vacancies. The General Assembly changed the law to
say that if the governor was going going to fill
(16:01):
a statewide judicial vacancy, meaning the state Supreme Court of
the State Court of Appeals, he would have to appoint
someone from the same party as the departing justice or judge.
Stein won at the trial court level in that part
of the case, and the legislative leaders who were opposing
him in this case, they appealed shortly after the ruling,
(16:24):
within days. But another piece of that ruling was for
legislators and against Stein, and that was on a change
to the appointments to the State Utilities Commission. The governor
has three appointments. The General Assembly as part of Senate
Bill three eighty two last year, took one of the
governor's appointments away and gave it to the State Treasurer.
(16:45):
That that appointment ends up changing the makeup of the
Utilities Commission. Stein had sued over that he lost at
the trial court level. The appointment change actually took place.
The appointment went from Stein to the The Treasurer, Brad Bryner,
appointed Don Vandervart of the Office of Administrative Hearings, a
former State Environmental Secretary, to be the new member of
(17:09):
the Utilities Commission. So that has already taken place, but
the governor has decided to appeal that ruling against him,
so that now will be at the Court of Appeals
and the court will have to wrestle with two different
parts of the same ruling. One in favor of Stein
on judicial vacancies, one in favor of the legislators of
the Utilities Commission, but that will be working its way
(17:31):
through the courts. In One suspects that whoever loses at
the Court of Appeals level will appeal to the State
Supreme Court, and it could end up being both of them.
If the trial court ruling is upheld, both sides might
want the State Supreme Court to come in and rule
in their favor.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Yeah, and again, especially when you look at these appointments.
We talked earlier this year about the North Carolina State
Board of Elections. Over the last few weeks, there's been
some riff between the governor and legislative leaders with a
bunch of veto overrides. Continue to watch that relationship play out.
We'll keep our audience up to date with that. We
appreciate the update. This morning. Mitchkoki from the John Locke
(18:07):
Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. It's
by thirty seven. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour,
Newstock eleven, ten ninety nine three WBT. Continuing our coverage
this morning of a long awaited audit of the North
Carolina Division of Motor vehicles. State Auditor Dave Bollock held
(18:30):
a press conference on Monday outlining the more than five
four hundred and thirty five page audit on DMV. And
this is something that State Auditor Dave Bollick said, not
only did he campaign on, but he's brought it to reality.
Speaker 5 (18:44):
It's no secret I campaigned on the idea of auditing
the DMV. But this effort with respect to the State
Auditor's Office will not be isolated to just the DMV.
This is an effort to make the State Auditor's Office
relevant to everyday North Carolina North Carolinians.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
We want to perform audits that matter.
Speaker 5 (19:04):
This is, however, clearly our first stab at a comprehensive
type audit that seeks to inject relevance into the office
of the State Auditor. The d and V is the
most customer facing government agency in the state. And if
this audit and our efforts do nothing else, folks, if
(19:25):
this audit does nothing, it falls flat. I will say
this in a proud way that this office has led
the effort in shining a light and putting an emphasis
on the fact that our dm V needs reform and
that action needs to be taken d and V affects
the economy of North Carolina and the reputation of our state.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Now, talking about some of those big time issues and
the need for getting some of these audits, these larger
scale audits like that of the DMV out to the public.
And one of the biggest issues that state audited Dave
Bullock highlighted and his auditors highlighted in this four hundred
and thirty five page report is that there was a
huge lack of metrics as it related to the operation
(20:09):
of the DMV.
Speaker 5 (20:11):
One thing to note as an overall issue that our
audit found and that is a lack of detailed and
measurably relevant metrics at the DMV. That really should be
a headline across the state of North Carolina. As we've
been I've been in office now for seven months. We
started this audit six months ago, so this is a
(20:33):
six month work product. We started the first of February
with this. We're seeing a lack of metrics and measurabilities
across the state of North Carolina. You know, we need
measurable data so that managers can know what they're doing
right and what they're doing wrong, and so they can
(20:54):
look at it and see exactly what needs to be
done to move to use sports analogy to ball down
the field and private business uses metrics and a day.
In this day of data analytics and the use of
high speed computers, the State of North Carolina's got to
get on board with data analytics and metrics across the state.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
And when you look at the some of the pushes
there from State Auditor Dave Bollock talking about how private industry,
of course has embraced a lot of ongoing technology. We
just talked about it on the show yesterday morning, the
AI pilot program that took place in the Treasurer's office
with open AI. Those are the creators of chat GPT,
attempting to use new forms of technology to continue to
(21:43):
move government agencies forward and make things more efficient. Arguably,
one of the most frustrating issues with DMV as it
stands right now is incredibly long wait times. Not only
does it take months in some cases to get an
appointment at a DMV office from the mountain to the coast,
but in many cases then you have to wait hours
in line to actually get into your appointment. State Auditor
(22:06):
Dave Bullock talked on that now.
Speaker 5 (22:08):
I want to note here that this is DMV data
based on when individuals actually check in the license office, right.
This doesn't include how long you have to wait outside
if you're there for a show up. We also found
that thirteen point eight percent of customer visits exceeded two
and a half hours in the year twenty twenty five,
(22:28):
which is a seventy nine percent increased statewide. We found
that forty seven point five percent of driver's license office
transactions in fiscal year twenty twenty five were customers not
visiting their closest office, and that fourteen percent of rural
customers traveled outside of their service area for more than
(22:49):
an hour. Over the past five years, customer experience has
been measurably declining, a trend closely linked to both increased
population population and persistent structural governance challenges. The employee experience
has diminished as well. Employees in our talk with them
cited low salary, burnout, security concerns, lack of support, and
(23:13):
inadequate training. If you look at salaries, the average salary
remains below fifty thousand dollars for examiners in both rural
and urban areas. Quite Frankly, the state should evaluate market
based salaries and an approach to paying these positions because, frankly,
(23:34):
many positions across the state are indifferent metropolitan and local areas.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
I mean, let's be just honest about it.
Speaker 5 (23:42):
It costs more to live in Charlotte than it does
in rural eastern North Carolina, and we need to look
at it from a standpoint of what we pay folks
to get the job done.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
One of the biggest recommendations from the state auditor Dave
Bullock and his team over at the Auditor's Office was
changing these structure of DMV. It currently sits under the
Department of Transportation, that is the larger umbrella agency that
DMV sits under. However, Dave Bolick noted that in their
six month audit that it's kicked off in the month
(24:15):
of February, they found that no longer DMV and DOT
should be so closely tied to the help take a listen.
Speaker 5 (24:21):
The biggest issue that our team identified, and this came
not only from stakeholders across state government, but from people
that work in the DMV on the front lines, is
the relationship between D and D and DOT. This is
a governance structure issue that adds too much bureaucratic red
tape to the equation. There are four systematic challenges stemming
(24:45):
from the DMV's governance structure as a division of DOT.
And let me stop here and say I am aware,
and I certainly respect Commissioner Time and Sartia Hopkins disagreement
with this recommendation. Actually, if you look at their response,
they I agree with every single recommendation we make except
this one, and I certainly understand and respect that. But
(25:08):
the current structure limits the strategic input of the DMV.
Of the forty five performance milestones and the DOT Strategic
Plan for twenty twenty three to twenty five, only two
of the forty five directly pertained to DMV operations. They
have restricted budgetary autonomy. DMV relies on DOT to submit
(25:29):
budget requests, but only thirty one percent of DMVs staffing
requests were included in dot's budget requests.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
Insufficient performance data.
Speaker 5 (25:38):
DOT left out DMV customer service satisfaction data in its
performance report. Exclusion from key process modernization initiatives. DMV was
excluded from planning and procurement phases of improvement efforts led
by the DOT again, it's not personality base. And I'm
fully aware that Secretary Hopkins is new to the job
(25:59):
over the last six months and Commissioner Time is new
to the job. But is This has been a legacy
issue at the DMV between the DMV and the DOT.
The governance structures having contributed and will continue to contribute
to customer and operational challenges, modernization delays, employee burnout, and
negative impacts on North Carolina's economy. DOT needs the DMV,
(26:24):
not the other way around. DMV currently generates thirty percent
of dot's revenues but accounts for only three percent of
the expenditures while lacking sufficient operational authority. DMV collects more
than three point five billion dollars each year, which includes
one point three billion dollars in vehicle taxes. You know,
(26:45):
when you go and you get your registration, you pay
tax through the DMV to the county, But it also
remits two point two plus billion dollars every year to
the DOT, while dm v's total expenditures are roughly two
hundred million dollars per year. You can see page two
hundred and sixty seven for a detailed analysis of that.
(27:06):
In the appendix, I would note that the twenty eight
million dollars per year has now been shifted to the
State Highway Patrol through license and theft. But the fact
remains the relationship isn't working. There have been several different
DMV and DOT leadership iterations over the years. Again, I
believe that Commissioner Time and Secretary Hopkins are are really
(27:27):
working well together. But we need to organize our d
and V and our DOT for whoever takes those positions.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
This has of course been a long time frustration and
struggle for folks across the state of North Carolina. Even
if they can get into an appointment, which can take months,
it is a slow lagging process. This is a very
lengthy audit out from State Auditor Dave Bollock's office. We
await additional steps in additional information now that that audit
(27:57):
is available, seeing maybe some of those reckons being implemented
by DOT and DMV. We've got a full write up
this morning Teresa Peika's got it over at Carolina Journal
dot com. The headline DMV audit reveals systematic problems, recommend
separation from NCDOT. We will continue to attract this audit
(28:18):
as it now is out in the public, and if
any of those changes are made, or any other information
does come to light, we'll bring you those details right
here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. It's five fifty two.
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Newstock eleven,
ten ninety nine three WVT. We are continuing our coverage
(28:43):
of the twenty twenty five Atlantic hurricane season, as August
and Septembers are the busiest months. Turning the clocks back
just a couple of months. Tropical Storm shan Tal had
some major impacts on central North Carolina back last month.
Home Owners, renters, and businesses that were affected by that
(29:03):
storm are now eligible to apply for low interest disaster
loans through the US Small Business Administration. The SBA approved
an administrative disaster declaration for impacted counties following that storm
earlier this year. Including the counties include Alamance, Caswell, Chatham, Durham, Granville, Orange,
(29:25):
Person and Wake Counties. Democrat Governor Josh Stein said in
a press release quote this declaration will help families and
business owners across central North Carolina who are still reeling
from severe flooding caused by Tropical Storm at Chantal. I
want to thank the Small Business Administration for swiftly approving
(29:47):
this request. North Carolinians are resilient and we will get
through this together. Eligible homeowners and renters may borrow up
to five hundred thousand dollars for repair or reconstruct uction
costs for a primary residence. Loans of up to one
hundred thousand dollars are available to cover expenses related to
(30:07):
damaged or destroyed personal property, including clothing, furniture, cars, and appliances.
On the business side, eligible businesses and nonprofits may borrow
up to two million dollars to repair or replace property,
including real estate, inventory, and various pieces of equipment. The
(30:28):
governor did declare a state of emergency back on July
the sixteenth, as that storm unloaded more than ten inches
of rain in counties including Alamance, Orange, Chatham, and more,
causing some historic flooding rivers swell to or near record levels.
The Hall River crested at thirty two and a half feet,
(30:49):
with the Eno River setting a new crest at twenty
five point six three feet. The storm surpassed multiple one
hundred year flood levels in various places across the central
part of the state, where floodwaters rose above in both
nineteen forty five and nineteen ninety six flood levels. Additionally,
(31:09):
the Department of Transportation reported initially after the storm more
than one hundred and twenty road closures, including some major
arteries such as Interstate forty and eighty five in Alamance County.
And unfortunately, this storm led to the death of five
people across North Carolina and more than eighty water rescues
(31:30):
being completed in both Chapel Hill and in Durham. Applications
for SBA disaster loans may be submitted online at Lending
dot SBA dot gov. That's lending dot SBA at dot gov.
As North Carolina Emergency Management continues to work with local
officials to assess some of that damage. Of full damage
(31:52):
assessments are incomplete this morning, but they do continue. As
we look at the tropics this morning, a couple areas
of interest from the National Hurricane Center out of Miami, Florida.
Tropical Storm Dexter continues to weaken as it continues to
move away from the continental United States. That storm is
(32:15):
moving to the east this morning. No impact expected on
coastal areas of North or South Carolina. Again anywhere in
the continental United States. Two other areas of interest is well,
one that is being looked at a wave off of
the African coast that does have a fifty percent chance
of development over the next seven days. We'll keep an
(32:38):
eye on those details right here on the Carolina Journal
News Hour and of course on our website to Carolina
Journal dot com. A major audit from State Auditor Dave
Bollock yesterday as the Division of Motor Vehicle DMV continues
to struggle big time with long wait lines and times
across the state of North Carolina. We continue our coverage
(33:01):
of the audit this morning over on our website, Carolina
Journal dot com. The headline DMV audit reveals systematic problems,
recommend separation from ncdot Well, that's going to do it
for a Tuesday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour
WBT News is next followed by Good morning BT. We're
back with you tomorrow morning five to six right here
(33:23):
on News Talk eleven ten and ninety nine to three
WBT
It's five oh five and welcome in to a Tuesday
edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour News Talk eleven
ten ninety nine three WBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good morning
to you. There have been a couple of different legal
stories that we've been tracking over the last couple of
The long awaited audit of the Division of Motor Vehicle
here in the state of North Carolina was released Monday
(00:28):
by State Auditor Dave Bullock. It is a very lengthy
report with some pretty significant recommendations. To walk us through
some of those details, Teresa Opeka, Carolina Journal dot com
joins us on the News Hour. Teresa, DMV has been
a pain in a lot of folks sides across the
state for a number of years. State Auditor Dave Bullock
says he's got some plans and some solutions to maybe
(00:50):
solve some of those problems. You're at the press conference
on Monday or what did you take away from it?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Sure? Good morning, Nick, Thanks for having me so. Yeah,
you know, Auditor bull likened the situation with the DMV
to Hurricane Helene western North Carolina. It's that much of
an emergency. That's what his words were at that press
conference on Monday. You know, it's things that affect people,
(01:17):
they have to take time off from work, from school.
He said, it's just unnecessary. He mentioned seeing a report
in the news yesterday morning where there were people waiting
as early as four am at the Avant Faery DMV
in Raleigh, and he says, it's just unacceptable. This has
got to stop and you need to have a new
plan in place. So yeah, the audit is four hundred
(01:41):
and thirty five pages. They've been working on this for
about six months. They've had twenty auditors working on it
with other people from different universities like North NC State,
North Carolina State University, the Bryant School of Business and
Economics at UNC Greensboro, and a host of others to
(02:02):
give those recommendations over a slew of issues that are
affecting the DMV. A lot of them we know. Obviously
we talked about the lines that people are waiting in
or taking time off of work, but there's some other
interesting aspects to this audit as well.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
I guess we should probably start off with, which was
one of the more significant recommendations is that currently DMV
sits under the North Carolina Dot Department of Transportation State
Auditor Dave Bollock made the recommendation and made his case
pretty clearly on Monday that the DMV and DOT should
no longer be the same agency and DMV should kind
(02:39):
of operate almost completely separately for reason. That would be
a major change in North Carolina.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
It would it, definitely, would, you know? He said, that
is the biggest issue. What they found with the audits
a fractured relationship between the DMV and the DOT. You know,
the current structure limits the DMV strategic input. They also
should have a budget autonomy, according to Auditor Bullock, and
modernization involvement. They're not having enough involvement for you know,
(03:10):
the money that they're taking in. As he said, the
DOT needs the DMV, not the other way around, because
the DMV currently generates about thirty percent of the dot's
revenues but accounts only for about three percent of the
expenditures while lacking sufficient operational authority. So they need to
have their own plan. They need to be basically independent
(03:33):
of the DOT. And while we have Secretary of Transportation
Joey Hopkins and the DMV Commissioner Paul Tyne agreeing with
every other recommendation in this audit, Separating the two were
the only thing they did disagree on. They said that
that wasn't a thing that was necessary according to them.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Yeah, and again you look at those numbers, and the
state auditor mentioned those. When you're pulling in thirty percent
of the revenue for a state agency and you're just
seeing a mini school amount being spent, that is obviously
creating some problems. And you know, Teresa, I saw this
commentary online after the press conference of oh, well, all
these recommendations are things that we already knew, discussions about
(04:13):
staffing shortages, not enough employees, And I thought to myself,
if well, if we already knew all of these things,
then why have they been plaguing the state of North
Carolina for ten or fifteen or twenty years. It sounds
pretty simple, but the problem hasn't gotten any better. It's
gotten worse.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
It definitely has gotten worse, especially over the last five years.
But interesting comment that Auditor bowl mentioned made. He says,
what we're seeing is that the government was paying attention
to what was going on previously, something would have been
done to assist the DMV, and that may have been
at the Secretary's level where it was stopped. But they
didn't go that deep into it. But the fact of
(04:50):
the matter is, this mess did not happen overnight. I'm
using the word mess. So he said he's going to
continue to be like a dog with a bone on
the DMV and hopefully in implementation. But he makes a
good point. It's been going on for a number of years. Yes,
it's gotten worse over the past five years, but it's
been going back even further than that. So you got
(05:11):
to wonder, you know, who truly is at fault for
all of this.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
One of the interesting metrics that the auditor actually brought
forward was that it was taking people over an hour
from when they actually checked in to getting their business done.
But he made the point and emphasized Teresa, that did
not include a three, four, five, six, maybe seven hour
wait in a line outside of the building before you
got checked in. That's a substantial amount of time. You've
(05:38):
got people taking days off of work, not getting paid
to get a real idea stand outside of the DMV.
That is not sustainable long term, is it.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
I wouldn't say it would be no, absolutely not. Yeah,
like you said that that one and one hour fifteen
minute is from check in only. That's up fifteen fifteen
point five percent twenty nineteen. But as you say, it's
not accounting for the time in line, you know. And
also another really striking statistic he pointed up for an example,
(06:12):
there's one driver's license examiner for the whole county, Harnett County,
for fifty six thousand people.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
One.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
I mean there was other ones that were low too,
but that was a striking figure. I mean, how are
you going to possibly handle all of that one driver's
license examiner? So there are other things he looked at,
he says, he talked about maybe getting pop up shops.
You see those maybe in the mall, Halloween shops that
come outs or you know, or whatever kind of shop
(06:41):
one might be. I'll even say a fireworks tent. But
something that would actually help maybe spur things along that
people are not waiting in line, out in the heat,
out in the cold winds in winter, wintertime, stuff like
of that nature. Maybe even giving what he said is
a he would call a fast pass, or you would
go to the license plate agency to get your license
(07:03):
quicker for an additional fee. It's thinking of all different things.
One thing he noted to the kiosks that were instituted
a couple of years ago really are not living up
to what they were expected to be. They're not getting
as many customers as they thought, so he thought maybe
they should be moved to the license plate agency as well.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Yeah, those kiosks are interesting. Those were brought out as
a pilot a couple of years ago. But from everything
I've read online about them, and I know we've had
some coverage over at Carolina Journal dot com, Teresa, they
were essentially just a web browser of everything that you
could already do on the my DMV website. So there
wasn't really a whole lot of additional and added features
on those kiosks. So it pretty seems like a pretty
(07:43):
solid recommendation there from auditor Bolock.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Yeah, and one other thing to note to you, and
mentioned about the website, we shouldn't neglect that the outdated
technology which we've heard about before, the main frame is cobal.
He made another funny comment. I can't think of it now,
but it's like a DASS system or an old time
system from the eighties, basically an old mainframe that that's
working on. And he said another interesting fact it's not
(08:10):
just DMV that's running on that kind of mainframe, it's
many government offices across the state, so that's an additional
problem to worry about as well. But outdated technology, he said,
that should be probably I'll take about four to six
years implement. He said. It could be faster, he said,
but the main goal right now is to hire more examiners.
You know. The General Assembly appropriate money in their mini budget,
(08:33):
which is awaiting action from Governor Stein, but forty more positions,
he says. That's a start, but it's not definitely not enough,
you know.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
And on the staffing front, I heard something interesting out
of the auditor's mouth that I guess inherently I knew
but I didn't really think about, was that these salary
positions need to or the salaries for some of these
positions Teresa need to meet the demands of the areas.
He talked about hiring somebody in Raleigh or Charlotte versus
somebody in rural eastern or western North Carolina. The pay
(09:07):
scale should be adjusted to make it so that it's
a feasible income depending on the region of the state,
which can vary drastically if you're in or out of
a major metropolitan area.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Right right, because, like you said, the cost of living
is so different from Raleigh or Charlotte versus maybe a
very rural area and maybe the northeastern part of the
state or something of that nature. So yeah, that's another
a good point that he brought up as well.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Let me ask you this, Theresa. We've seen a lot
of different audits of a lot of different state agencies.
A lot of times it's unfortunately rinse and repeat with
this audit from State Auditor Dave Bollock. As you noted
all of the recommendations minus DOT and DMV splitting and
no longer being the same agency, We're noted by the
leadership of those two entities. Do we have any idea
(09:58):
if there's going to be any movement on any of this?
How does this process unfold? The audit is out in public,
everybody can read it and has access to it. What
are the next steps here?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Yeah, so right now, there are a few points that
Auditor Bullock said that the Commissioner Time and Secretary Hopkins
are working on at the moment. So there are a
few things that they are implementing and getting and getting
in place. We said they're definitely on board with a
lot of suggestions recommendations as well as Governor Stein. So
(10:30):
hopefully there will be some significant movement in this area versus,
as you say, other agencies maybe like hurricane relief eastern
North Carolina. Will you know what, we see different meetings
all the time the legislature, nothing really gets done. So
hopefully they are working on some of these issues. But
like I said, it's not an overnight process. It's not
going to be fixed, you know, overnight, earn one day.
(10:52):
But hopefully they are making some significant and meaningful movement
in that direction.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
This is a lengthy report, over four hundred pages. You've
got to really extensive write up on it. Teresa. Wherekin
folks get those details, sure.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
They can head on over to Carolina Journal dot com.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Teresa Peka joins us this morning on the Carolina Journal
News Hour. It's five twenty three. Welcome back to the
Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk eleven ten ninety nine
three wb T. If you miss any of our program
weekday mornings five to six, you can check out our
(11:28):
Carolina Journal News Hour podcast. It's available in Google Play,
Apple Podcasts, Spotify, anywhere you get your shows. Search for
the Carolina Journal News Hour. Tap that subscribe or follow
button and take a new program with you each and
every weekday morning. It's the Carolina Journal News Hour podcast.
Download and subscribe. Now, there have been a couple of
(11:48):
different legal stories that we've been tracking over the last
couple of weeks and months here on the Carolina Journal
News Hour. To walk us through some of these details,
this morning, Mitch Cochi with the John Locke Foundation joins
us on the Carolina Journal News Mitch, over the last
few weeks, we've talked about a fair elections lawsuit that's
been ongoing in the state of North Carolina. You've got
a pretty substantial update on that this morning. What's the
(12:10):
latest that you're tracking there.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
Yes, you might remember that former State Supreme Court Justice
Bob Orr has gone to court with some plaintiffs. He
had nine Democratic voters and two independents who say that
North Carolina should have a constitutional right to fair elections.
It's not spelled out anywhere in the constitution, but basically
the argument is that everything else that is in the
(12:34):
constitution implies that there should be this right to fair elections.
Bob Orr is asking that the state court system turn
what is it implied right into an actual right by
saying in a court decision that there is this right
to fair elections, and then it would use the right
to fair elections to throw out some congressional and legislative districts. Now,
(12:57):
Bob Or lost unanimously to a three judge superior court
panel on this topic and has taken the case to
the Court of Appeals. And the last time you and
I spoke, Or had asked the state Court of Appeals
to hold an oral argument as it moves forward with
this case. After we spoke, there was another court filing
(13:17):
from the Republican legislative leaders who are defending this case,
who said, hey, this is improper and it's untimely because
the Court of Appeals had already decided not to hold
an oral argument, and they said, there's no reason to
hold an oral argument anyway, because everything is fairly clear
from what's already been filed in the court briefing. Well,
(13:39):
the latest development is that the Court of Appeals said, no,
there's going to be no oral argument. A three judge
appellate court panel, all three Republicans coincidentally, are going to
consider the case without.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
An oral argument.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
On August thirteenth, and then presumably at some point afterward
we'll come out with a decision. My suspicion is because
there is no oral argument that could mean that we'll
have a fairly quick decision on this. It seems as
if the judges have kind of looked at what's been filed,
figure they don't need any more information. They'll be able
to come out with a decision based on what they've read.
(14:17):
So we might have some sort of resolution at least
on the appeals court level to this case sooner rather
than later. If Or loses once again at the appeals court,
he could take it to the State Supreme Court, but
depending on how the appeals court rules, the Supreme Court
wouldn't necessarily have to take that case, which means that
(14:37):
the appeals court ruling could be the final ruling in
this case and it could be resolved in a matter
of months rather than perhaps a matter of years if
it ends up going to the State Supreme Court.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
And so we'll wait and watch for that middle August
court date and continue to track the details there. Now,
changing gears to another legal battle we've been watching in
This was one of many between the newly elected and
newly sworn and Governor in Josh Stein and Republican leaders
in the General Assembly mitch over various appointments to various commissions,
(15:11):
utilities and boards. Now we're talking about the North Carolina
Utilities Commission. What's the latest going on there.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
Yeah, this is interesting in that you might remember we
spoke about the fact that Governor Josh Stein decided not
to appeal a court ruling against him on the appointment
of the Highway Patrol commander. That was one particular lawsuit
he filed. He lost at the trial court level and
ended up deciding near the deadline not to appeal that ruling.
(15:39):
So what the General Assembly did in forcing Stein to
keep the current highway patrol commander stays in place. But
there was another case involving another suit from Josh Stein,
where he sued over three different things together. One was
filling judicial vacancies. The General Assembly changed the law to
say that if the governor was going going to fill
(16:01):
a statewide judicial vacancy, meaning the state Supreme Court of
the State Court of Appeals, he would have to appoint
someone from the same party as the departing justice or judge.
Stein won at the trial court level in that part
of the case, and the legislative leaders who were opposing
him in this case, they appealed shortly after the ruling,
(16:24):
within days. But another piece of that ruling was for
legislators and against Stein, and that was on a change
to the appointments to the State Utilities Commission. The governor
has three appointments. The General Assembly as part of Senate
Bill three eighty two last year, took one of the
governor's appointments away and gave it to the State Treasurer.
(16:45):
That that appointment ends up changing the makeup of the
Utilities Commission. Stein had sued over that he lost at
the trial court level. The appointment change actually took place.
The appointment went from Stein to the The Treasurer, Brad Bryner,
appointed Don Vandervart of the Office of Administrative Hearings, a
former State Environmental Secretary, to be the new member of
(17:09):
the Utilities Commission. So that has already taken place, but
the governor has decided to appeal that ruling against him,
so that now will be at the Court of Appeals
and the court will have to wrestle with two different
parts of the same ruling. One in favor of Stein
on judicial vacancies, one in favor of the legislators of
the Utilities Commission, but that will be working its way
(17:31):
through the courts. In One suspects that whoever loses at
the Court of Appeals level will appeal to the State
Supreme Court, and it could end up being both of them.
If the trial court ruling is upheld, both sides might
want the State Supreme Court to come in and rule
in their favor.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Yeah, and again, especially when you look at these appointments.
We talked earlier this year about the North Carolina State
Board of Elections. Over the last few weeks, there's been
some riff between the governor and legislative leaders with a
bunch of veto overrides. Continue to watch that relationship play out.
We'll keep our audience up to date with that. We
appreciate the update. This morning. Mitchkoki from the John Locke
(18:07):
Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. It's
by thirty seven. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour,
Newstock eleven, ten ninety nine three WBT. Continuing our coverage
this morning of a long awaited audit of the North
Carolina Division of Motor vehicles. State Auditor Dave Bollock held
(18:30):
a press conference on Monday outlining the more than five
four hundred and thirty five page audit on DMV. And
this is something that State Auditor Dave Bollick said, not
only did he campaign on, but he's brought it to reality.
Speaker 5 (18:44):
It's no secret I campaigned on the idea of auditing
the DMV. But this effort with respect to the State
Auditor's Office will not be isolated to just the DMV.
This is an effort to make the State Auditor's Office
relevant to everyday North Carolina North Carolinians.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
We want to perform audits that matter.
Speaker 5 (19:04):
This is, however, clearly our first stab at a comprehensive
type audit that seeks to inject relevance into the office
of the State Auditor. The d and V is the
most customer facing government agency in the state. And if
this audit and our efforts do nothing else, folks, if
(19:25):
this audit does nothing, it falls flat. I will say
this in a proud way that this office has led
the effort in shining a light and putting an emphasis
on the fact that our dm V needs reform and
that action needs to be taken d and V affects
the economy of North Carolina and the reputation of our state.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Now, talking about some of those big time issues and
the need for getting some of these audits, these larger
scale audits like that of the DMV out to the public.
And one of the biggest issues that state audited Dave
Bullock highlighted and his auditors highlighted in this four hundred
and thirty five page report is that there was a
huge lack of metrics as it related to the operation
(20:09):
of the DMV.
Speaker 5 (20:11):
One thing to note as an overall issue that our
audit found and that is a lack of detailed and
measurably relevant metrics at the DMV. That really should be
a headline across the state of North Carolina. As we've
been I've been in office now for seven months. We
started this audit six months ago, so this is a
(20:33):
six month work product. We started the first of February
with this. We're seeing a lack of metrics and measurabilities
across the state of North Carolina. You know, we need
measurable data so that managers can know what they're doing
right and what they're doing wrong, and so they can
(20:54):
look at it and see exactly what needs to be
done to move to use sports analogy to ball down
the field and private business uses metrics and a day.
In this day of data analytics and the use of
high speed computers, the State of North Carolina's got to
get on board with data analytics and metrics across the state.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
And when you look at the some of the pushes
there from State Auditor Dave Bollock talking about how private industry,
of course has embraced a lot of ongoing technology. We
just talked about it on the show yesterday morning, the
AI pilot program that took place in the Treasurer's office
with open AI. Those are the creators of chat GPT,
attempting to use new forms of technology to continue to
(21:43):
move government agencies forward and make things more efficient. Arguably,
one of the most frustrating issues with DMV as it
stands right now is incredibly long wait times. Not only
does it take months in some cases to get an
appointment at a DMV office from the mountain to the coast,
but in many cases then you have to wait hours
in line to actually get into your appointment. State Auditor
(22:06):
Dave Bullock talked on that now.
Speaker 5 (22:08):
I want to note here that this is DMV data
based on when individuals actually check in the license office, right.
This doesn't include how long you have to wait outside
if you're there for a show up. We also found
that thirteen point eight percent of customer visits exceeded two
and a half hours in the year twenty twenty five,
(22:28):
which is a seventy nine percent increased statewide. We found
that forty seven point five percent of driver's license office
transactions in fiscal year twenty twenty five were customers not
visiting their closest office, and that fourteen percent of rural
customers traveled outside of their service area for more than
(22:49):
an hour. Over the past five years, customer experience has
been measurably declining, a trend closely linked to both increased
population population and persistent structural governance challenges. The employee experience
has diminished as well. Employees in our talk with them
cited low salary, burnout, security concerns, lack of support, and
(23:13):
inadequate training. If you look at salaries, the average salary
remains below fifty thousand dollars for examiners in both rural
and urban areas. Quite Frankly, the state should evaluate market
based salaries and an approach to paying these positions because, frankly,
(23:34):
many positions across the state are indifferent metropolitan and local areas.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
I mean, let's be just honest about it.
Speaker 5 (23:42):
It costs more to live in Charlotte than it does
in rural eastern North Carolina, and we need to look
at it from a standpoint of what we pay folks
to get the job done.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
One of the biggest recommendations from the state auditor Dave
Bullock and his team over at the Auditor's Office was
changing these structure of DMV. It currently sits under the
Department of Transportation, that is the larger umbrella agency that
DMV sits under. However, Dave Bolick noted that in their
six month audit that it's kicked off in the month
(24:15):
of February, they found that no longer DMV and DOT
should be so closely tied to the help take a listen.
Speaker 5 (24:21):
The biggest issue that our team identified, and this came
not only from stakeholders across state government, but from people
that work in the DMV on the front lines, is
the relationship between D and D and DOT. This is
a governance structure issue that adds too much bureaucratic red
tape to the equation. There are four systematic challenges stemming
(24:45):
from the DMV's governance structure as a division of DOT.
And let me stop here and say I am aware,
and I certainly respect Commissioner Time and Sartia Hopkins disagreement
with this recommendation. Actually, if you look at their response,
they I agree with every single recommendation we make except
this one, and I certainly understand and respect that. But
(25:08):
the current structure limits the strategic input of the DMV.
Of the forty five performance milestones and the DOT Strategic
Plan for twenty twenty three to twenty five, only two
of the forty five directly pertained to DMV operations. They
have restricted budgetary autonomy. DMV relies on DOT to submit
(25:29):
budget requests, but only thirty one percent of DMVs staffing
requests were included in dot's budget requests.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
Insufficient performance data.
Speaker 5 (25:38):
DOT left out DMV customer service satisfaction data in its
performance report. Exclusion from key process modernization initiatives. DMV was
excluded from planning and procurement phases of improvement efforts led
by the DOT again, it's not personality base. And I'm
fully aware that Secretary Hopkins is new to the job
(25:59):
over the last six months and Commissioner Time is new
to the job. But is This has been a legacy
issue at the DMV between the DMV and the DOT.
The governance structures having contributed and will continue to contribute
to customer and operational challenges, modernization delays, employee burnout, and
negative impacts on North Carolina's economy. DOT needs the DMV,
(26:24):
not the other way around. DMV currently generates thirty percent
of dot's revenues but accounts for only three percent of
the expenditures while lacking sufficient operational authority. DMV collects more
than three point five billion dollars each year, which includes
one point three billion dollars in vehicle taxes. You know,
(26:45):
when you go and you get your registration, you pay
tax through the DMV to the county, But it also
remits two point two plus billion dollars every year to
the DOT, while dm v's total expenditures are roughly two
hundred million dollars per year. You can see page two
hundred and sixty seven for a detailed analysis of that.
(27:06):
In the appendix, I would note that the twenty eight
million dollars per year has now been shifted to the
State Highway Patrol through license and theft. But the fact
remains the relationship isn't working. There have been several different
DMV and DOT leadership iterations over the years. Again, I
believe that Commissioner Time and Secretary Hopkins are are really
(27:27):
working well together. But we need to organize our d
and V and our DOT for whoever takes those positions.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
This has of course been a long time frustration and
struggle for folks across the state of North Carolina. Even
if they can get into an appointment, which can take months,
it is a slow lagging process. This is a very
lengthy audit out from State Auditor Dave Bollock's office. We
await additional steps in additional information now that that audit
(27:57):
is available, seeing maybe some of those reckons being implemented
by DOT and DMV. We've got a full write up
this morning Teresa Peika's got it over at Carolina Journal
dot com. The headline DMV audit reveals systematic problems, recommend
separation from NCDOT. We will continue to attract this audit
(28:18):
as it now is out in the public, and if
any of those changes are made, or any other information
does come to light, we'll bring you those details right
here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. It's five fifty two.
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Newstock eleven,
ten ninety nine three WVT. We are continuing our coverage
(28:43):
of the twenty twenty five Atlantic hurricane season, as August
and Septembers are the busiest months. Turning the clocks back
just a couple of months. Tropical Storm shan Tal had
some major impacts on central North Carolina back last month.
Home Owners, renters, and businesses that were affected by that
(29:03):
storm are now eligible to apply for low interest disaster
loans through the US Small Business Administration. The SBA approved
an administrative disaster declaration for impacted counties following that storm
earlier this year. Including the counties include Alamance, Caswell, Chatham, Durham, Granville, Orange,
(29:25):
Person and Wake Counties. Democrat Governor Josh Stein said in
a press release quote this declaration will help families and
business owners across central North Carolina who are still reeling
from severe flooding caused by Tropical Storm at Chantal. I
want to thank the Small Business Administration for swiftly approving
(29:47):
this request. North Carolinians are resilient and we will get
through this together. Eligible homeowners and renters may borrow up
to five hundred thousand dollars for repair or reconstruct uction
costs for a primary residence. Loans of up to one
hundred thousand dollars are available to cover expenses related to
(30:07):
damaged or destroyed personal property, including clothing, furniture, cars, and appliances.
On the business side, eligible businesses and nonprofits may borrow
up to two million dollars to repair or replace property,
including real estate, inventory, and various pieces of equipment. The
(30:28):
governor did declare a state of emergency back on July
the sixteenth, as that storm unloaded more than ten inches
of rain in counties including Alamance, Orange, Chatham, and more,
causing some historic flooding rivers swell to or near record levels.
The Hall River crested at thirty two and a half feet,
(30:49):
with the Eno River setting a new crest at twenty
five point six three feet. The storm surpassed multiple one
hundred year flood levels in various places across the central
part of the state, where floodwaters rose above in both
nineteen forty five and nineteen ninety six flood levels. Additionally,
(31:09):
the Department of Transportation reported initially after the storm more
than one hundred and twenty road closures, including some major
arteries such as Interstate forty and eighty five in Alamance County.
And unfortunately, this storm led to the death of five
people across North Carolina and more than eighty water rescues
(31:30):
being completed in both Chapel Hill and in Durham. Applications
for SBA disaster loans may be submitted online at Lending
dot SBA dot gov. That's lending dot SBA at dot gov.
As North Carolina Emergency Management continues to work with local
officials to assess some of that damage. Of full damage
(31:52):
assessments are incomplete this morning, but they do continue. As
we look at the tropics this morning, a couple areas
of interest from the National Hurricane Center out of Miami, Florida.
Tropical Storm Dexter continues to weaken as it continues to
move away from the continental United States. That storm is
(32:15):
moving to the east this morning. No impact expected on
coastal areas of North or South Carolina. Again anywhere in
the continental United States. Two other areas of interest is well,
one that is being looked at a wave off of
the African coast that does have a fifty percent chance
of development over the next seven days. We'll keep an
(32:38):
eye on those details right here on the Carolina Journal
News Hour and of course on our website to Carolina
Journal dot com. A major audit from State Auditor Dave
Bollock yesterday as the Division of Motor Vehicle DMV continues
to struggle big time with long wait lines and times
across the state of North Carolina. We continue our coverage
(33:01):
of the audit this morning over on our website, Carolina
Journal dot com. The headline DMV audit reveals systematic problems,
recommend separation from ncdot Well, that's going to do it
for a Tuesday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour
WBT News is next followed by Good morning BT. We're
back with you tomorrow morning five to six right here
(33:23):
on News Talk eleven ten and ninety nine to three
WBT
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