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State Ends DMV Services At AAA Offices In Fairfield County

FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. -- The AAA offices in Fairfield and New Haven counties will no longer provide any services for the Department of Motor Vehicles such as driver's licenses renewals, the state announced Tuesday.

This is a sample REAL ID-compliant driver's license showing the yellow star in the upper, right-hand corner. Obtaining the license was previously among services at the AAA offices in Fairfield and New Haven Counties.

This is a sample REAL ID-compliant driver's license showing the yellow star in the upper, right-hand corner. Obtaining the license was previously among services at the AAA offices in Fairfield and New Haven Counties.

Photo Credit: CT DMV website

Fran Mayko, spokesman for AAA Northeast, confirmed Tuesday that the AAA offices in Fairfield, Stamford, Norwalk, Danbury and Milford will no longer offer DMV services for members and nonmembers.

The DMV equipment at those AAA offices were disabled by the DMV on Saturday, she said.

"We do around 160,000 transactions a year," Mayko said. Those transactions will now have to be completed at a DMV office. 

The termination of services in Fairfield and New Haven counties was effective Jan. 1.

AAA offices in other upstate Connecticut locations will offer various DMV services such as driver's license and ID renewals to members and non-members, said the release.

The Department of Motor Vehicles could not reach an operating agreement with the AAA Northeast franchise that owns the offices in Fairfield and New Haven counties, according to the DMV.

The DMV had been in talks since October to keep DMV services running in these locations, but could not agree to the franchise's terms to only serve its members and exclude the remainder of the public, the DMV said.

“The Department’s responsibility is first and foremost to the general public. We need to maintain service levels while controlling costs. As such, we cannot subsidize a private organization’s provision of DMV services if that organization is not willing to find ways to serve the general public,” said DMV Commissioner Michael Bzdyra.

DMV services will continue at AAA Allied offices in Avon, Cromwell, Enfield, Manchester, Old Saybrook, Plainville, Waterford and West Hartford.

"They will continue to service AAA members and non-members," said Mayko. She clarified that AAA Allied and AAA Northeast are separate entities of AAA.

Negotiations with the DMV over the services had broken down.

"We were willing to buy additional equipment and add an auto-registration service also, but for members. It's a philosophical difference. The DMV wanted us to offer (all DMV services) to AAA members and non-members," Mayko said.

"We still think it's a valuable program that would benefit us and are still willing to go back to the bargaining table. The contract ended on Dec. 31. Unfortunately, they rejected our final offer we gave in December. We need to be able to serve our members," she said.

In the past, the services were offered to AAA members and nonmembers for a $5 fee, which didn't cover the costs, she said.

"With the onset of verified license ID the transaction time has become longer because we have to verify people's identity. They don't bring the proper paperwork, so transaction time was taking longer. The number of non-members coming to our office was nearly a 50 percent increase," Mayko said. 

"Unfortunately, we were having difficulty in processing time. Our members pay for a service we feel is valuable. We are a customer service oriented organization. It's become increasingly difficult doing work for non-members."

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