LEE COUNTY, Fla. – Delays and long lines at the Lee County Tax Collectors office are taxing some people’s patience.
Many people have reached out asking what’s causing the delays and why they now need an appointment just to get a driver’s license renewed. People are also upset it’s taking weeks just to get an appointment before they can get a new title or a new registration.
“You expect things to take forever, and they fulfill that promise, believe me,” said Richard Holloway, who waited over an hour to get his business taken care of.
Others were upset when they realized they could no longer walk in but instead needed an appointment, especially to get a new registration.
“I took off work today so I could get here and not miss my appointment,” said Lisa Remes.
However, Kayla Jones was told she needed more than one appointment to take care of her needs.
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“Now they’re talking about if you have an appointment you can only do one thing for that appointment and then you have to do something else you have to make another appointment just to come back and that is ridiculous,” Jones said.
Lee County Tax Collector Noelle Branning blamed the delays on staffing shortages she has been facing since earlier this year.
She said the wait times were even longer this past summer and that is when they instituted appointments. She said a recent survey shows wait times have reduced significantly since then.
Branning said she was still requiring appointments, so she could ensure serving everyone who walks through the door in an effort to eliminate wait times her office experienced over the summer.
“We hope that by early 2022 we’ll have staffing levels that look like they were pre-pandemic so that we can increase the appointment availability,” Branning said.
Until then Remes, who just moved to Florida, and got her new licenses didn’t mind the wait.
“It’s what you’ve got to do to become a Florida resident, so I’m willing to give up my snow shovel for that,” Remes said.
The best advice is to know what documents you need to take with you before you head to your appointment.
Nearby Collier County Tax Collector Rob Stoneburner said his office is not requiring appointments, but they are only accepting Collier County residents at this time.
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