EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14/CBS4) — The El Paso County Tax Office conducted training sessions on Friday for local automotive dealerships to familiarize them with a new system mandated by Texas law.

The training, held at El Paso Community College, aimed to address backlog issues in title and vehicle registrations following the implementation of House Bill 718 in July.

This law requires licensed motor vehicle dealers to issue metal license plates to buyers at the time of sale and utilize the Web Dealer system.

Ruben Gonzalez, the County Tax Assessor-Collector, said these sessions aim to assist dealerships in accurately completing documentation to obtain license plates, in accordance with House Bill 718.

However, the training follows challenges as El Paso County has been experiencing a significant backlog of vehicle transactions.

Gonzalez explained on Friday the challenges faced by dealers in adapting to the new system.

“So in many cases, if the dealers are doing it correctly, we will process it, approve it, print the plates, issue the receipts, and collect the fees, so that’s basically the process. Completely different process from the old web dealer program that was in place. And that’s why a lot of dealers are having difficulty in transitioning into this program,” he told KFOX14/CBS4.

El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego had previously acknowledged the backlog as a volume issue, stating that the number would eventually decrease.

During a Commissioners Court meeting last month, the court heard the latest updates from the county’s human resources department.

According to HR, there were still over 5,000 transactions that needed to be processed.

While over the past two years, the Tax Assessor’s Office has conducted multiple training sessions in collaboration with the DMV to assist dealers in this transition, Samaniego previously said the tax office should have worked more with local dealerships.

“I think that there was an effort to do training at the beginning, but I don’t think we pursued it enough,” Samaniego said.

El Paso County Commissioners will continue to receive weekly updates on HB 718.

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