Officials from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) acknowledged to lawmakers the ongoing challenges of rolling out its new Kentucky Automated Vehicle Information System (KAVIS) while highlighting the significant progress made and benefits of the modern system.
“We know the issues have caused some routine tasks to take longer than usual. That should change over time as we become more conversant with the process and the system,” said Transportation Cabinet Secretary Jim Gray, testifying Tuesday before the House Standing Committee on Transportation.
KAVIS is the system used by county clerks to process car, truck and boat registrations, titling and other vehicle-related transactions. It replaces an antiquated mainframe system – AVIS – that was implemented in 1978.
Following years of planning and a temporary closure of all county clerk offices in Kentucky to merge millions of records, KAVIS launched earlier this month, but not without some hiccups.
Some transactions took longer to complete or were unable to be processed altogether. The online KAVIS portal was not available for several days after its anticipated launch.
“We appreciate the patience and understanding as we work literally day and night to make things right,” Gray said. “And we appreciate the patience of the clerks’ staffs who are adjusting to a new system. I can assure everyone that the growing pains will be worth it.”
Because KAVIS captures more complete data about a customer’s vehicle history, issues can arise when a customer has past-due taxes owed on a vehicle or there is a question of ownership. Owners are now required to pay those delinquent taxes before their current vehicle registration will be processed.
Grant County Clerk Tabatha Clemons, who is also president of the Kentucky County Clerks Association, told legislators that the KAVIS problems have become much less frequent and widespread. She said any errors or lag time have been addressed in real time through open lines of communication with KYTC.
“I’m confident that the KAVIS team will continue to fix these random issues as they arise. In the meantime, we are still going to need a lot of patience from our customers,” Clemons said.
Heather Stout, the KAVIS project manager for the Transportation Cabinet, emphasized that implementation of the new system is still early in the process, what she described as the “stabilization and acclimation” phase.
In addition to identifying uncollected vehicle tax revenue, Stout said KAVIS allows for better data collection and records management, enhanced license plate services, an improved user interface, and it sets the stage for other expanded services.
“I talked with [Montgomery County Clerk Chris Cockrell] and he said, ‘You know, AVIS was a Chevette and KAVIS is a Corvette,’” Stout said. “Now, not all counties feel that way… yet. Yet is the operative word.”
According to the Transportation Cabinet, KAVIS team members have worked 12 to 16-hour days over the past month to address technical issues and work with county clerks. Stout said she and the team are committed to seeing the project to the finish line.
“Are there problems? Yes. Is it perfect? No. Will it be? Absolutely. We are going to get there, no question about it.”
