Bulletin staff report

Deschutes County residents now have the option of forgoing postage costs or waiting in line at the DMV office to renew their vehicle registration because of a new online service.

For the past several years, the DMV has worked toward expanding its services online and has just added the option of vehicle registration renewal to its Web site.

For now, Deschutes County is the first Oregon county to implement the online registration service.

If all goes well, the online option is expected to be available statewide sometime within the next two months, said David House, a DMV spokesman. First, though, the service is only available in Deschutes County because the DMV wants to confirm that the online service is easy to use, he said.

”It’s part of an overall strategy to make it more efficient and convenient for the consumer and for (the DMV),” House said. ”It will serve a growing population with the DMV’s decreasing staff size.”

The DMV has about one million customers statewide renewing vehicle registrations each year, and the online option is expected to decrease the number of customers visiting DMV field offices, House said.

”DMV is encouraging Deschutes County residents to renew their registrations online, if they’re eligible, so we can make improvements before rolling it out to the whole state,” said Lorna Youngs, the DMV administrator.

Deschutes County was chosen as a pilot for online vehicle registration because it’s a medium-size town that could provide insight into anticipated problems with the new service that may occur in both major population centers and rural areas throughout Oregon, House said.

To complete an online vehicle registration renewal, residents need a Mastercard or Visa card, an insurance company name and policy number and a vehicle registration renewal form.

The vehicle registration service is available at www.OregonDMV.com.