Northpinellas: Tax collector completing takeover of driver's license services

Tax collector completing takeover of driver's license services

Some offices are being relocated while others are melded into existing facilities.

BRIAN K. CASANAS
Published June 26, 2004

CLEARWATER - The Pinellas County Tax Collector's Office, which has taken over several driver's license offices from the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, plans to relocate several of the offices.

The mid-county Tax Collector's Office at 8040 Bryan Dairy Road in Largo is now at 13025 Starkey Road.

The McMullen Booth driver's license office at 2465-J McMullen Booth Road, Clearwater, has been absorbed into the mid-county office.

The Skyway driver's license office at 4827 34th Street S in St. Petersburg will relocate in mid July to 1067 62nd Ave. S.

In addition to driver's license renewals, tax collection services are also available at the new locations for residents who need registration renewals for vehicles, vessels or mobile homes, or fishing and hunting licenses. Residents can also register to vote at those sites.

Residents who need to take driving tests can do so at the mid-county and Skyway offices, as well as the Tarpon Springs office at 743 S Pinellas Ave.

In a move to reduce costs, the motor vehicle department began closing many of its state driver's license offices in 2001, and offered county tax collectors the option of taking over the facilities.

Pinellas County Chief Deputy Tax Collector Carlos Thomas said the department's goal was to close all of its leased offices in Pinellas County.

The first Pinellas County driver's license office to be closed in 2001 and then assumed by the Tax Collector's Office was the office on South Pinellas Avenue in Tarpon Springs. The driver's license office on McMullen-Booth Road in Clearwater was taken over in December 2002, and the office on 34th Street S in December 2003.

"If you take a look at where all the offices are, you can see we're almost covered (from) tip to tip (of Pinellas County)," said Thomas, adding that once all relocations have taken place, most Pinellas County residents will live within 15 minutes of a Tax Collector's office.

"I hope these new facilities will be able to provide ... all the services (residents) may need," Thomas said. "Our goal is to be there to serve you and give you what you need from the tax collector, and be fairly close to home, too."