$75M contract OK to bring more DMV services online, in remote places

CARSON CITY — A state board approved a $75 million contract Tuesday to upgrade an aging computer system at the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles.

The funding, authorized by the 2015 Legislature as part of a DMV system modernization effort, will allow the agency to offer more services online and in remote locations, officials said.

DMV Director Terri Albertson told the state Board of Examiners that the system, once completed, will bring the agency into the future.

“We want to be the model for the rest of the nation; for the Nevada DMV to be the DMV of the future,” Albertson told the board chaired by Gov. Brian Sandoval.

Sandoval pressed Albertson on the price tag, saying $75 million “is a big number.”

He also asked about the contractor, Tech Mahindra Limited, which is based out of San Jose, California.

Sandoval said the contractor “is not a household name.”

“I’m not picking on you. But I’ve been through the Nevada health exchange,” the governor said, referencing the disastrous contract with Xerox Corp. to develop the system for Nevada Health Link, the state’s health insurance portal under the Affordable Care Act.

Nevada eventually dumped Xerox and terminated that $75 million contract.

Albertson said all technology projects come with inherent risks, but the contract has safeguards in place to protect taxpayers.

She added the company has been in the information technology world for at least a quarter century.

The board, which also includes Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske and Attorney General Adam Laxalt, also approved authorizing $38,000 for the DMV to upgrade its forms to comply with the National Voter Registration Act.

The American Civil Liberties Union complained that the law says applications for a driver’s license must serve also as a voter registration form, but that the Nevada DMV requires customers to fill out two separate forms.

Cegavske said the state is still in discussions with the ACLU over wording on the documents.

Contact Sandra Chereb at schereb@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-3821. Find @SandraChereb on Twitter.