Iowa turns treasurer's office into one-stop shop

Iowa state officials have decided to consolidate the Department of Revenue's debt collection service to their treasurer's office, allowing residents with a hold on their vehicle registration to make one less trip, the Globe Gazette reports. "Until now, criminal and traffic cases were most of the stops encountered at the treasurer's office," Patricia Wright, treasurer of Cerro Gordo Country, told the news source. "The state has new criteria that includes debts from other civil cases, some of them more than 10 years old." The Daily Freeman Journal reports that county treasurers in Iowa have been petitioning for the move since 2003. Treasurer's offices had previously been unable to renew residents' vehicle registration if they had a stop on their license because of debt owed to the state, such as a parking ticket or unpaid child support. In 2000, treasurers created a web portal that residents could use for online vehicle payments, tax payments and auto renewals. As of March, 88 counties use the site, which totaled more than $2 million in vehicle registrations and $46 million in tax payments in that month alone. The additional debt collection service will be accompanied by a $5 processing fee.