The Cascade County Treasurer’s Office and Montana Motor Vehicle Division are preparing to launch a new vehicle services system, overhauling the vehicle titling and registration process.
As they prepare for the launch, all MVD exam stations, including the service desk at MVD headquarters, will be closed and Cascade County will not be processing vehicle transactions March 13-16.
Only registration renewals will be processed on March 12.
The Cascade County property tax office will remain open 7 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
According to the MVD and county treasurer’s office, the new system will offer more online services, electronic payment options and improved turnaround time for all vehicle service transactions, plus improve functionality for law enforcement, car dealerships, insurance companies and simplify county operations.
This new vehicle services system is the final phase of MVD’s credentialing and registration system, a multi-phase, multi-year effort to improve customer service and efficiency for Montanans at MVD exam stations and county treasurer’s offices across the state.
Cascade County employees have been training with the new system since receiving new equipment in November.
Between the updated technology and programmed efficiencies of CARS, MVD partners and the citizens using vehicle services are expected to see improved ease in obtaining titles, renewing registrations, and all other vehicle-related services.
The county treasurer’s office will post updates on their website.
The MVD office will have updates on their exam station hours on their website.
The CARS platform is a software solution created in partnership with FAST Enterprises, which has implemented motor vehicle licensing and registrations in 18 other states, following a competitive bid process that MVD began in 2021. Work on CARS officially began in July 2022, according to a county release.
MVD launched the first phase of CARS in 2022 with a new online appointment scheduling system which offers new features including appointment scheduling to fit each customer’s needs, automated appointment reminders, and online check-in.
In 2023, MVD launched the second phase of CARS which overhauled the driver services system, which includes driver licensing, at MVD exam systems, according to the release.
