Polk County's long wait for new car titles may be over soon

• A new owner generally has 30 days to present the title to county treasurers so it can be issued in their name.

Flashback: Limited in-person appointments opened for title transfers last year, an exception to pandemic restrictions because of the complicated nature of the document transactions.

• Lots of other county services remained virtual.

What to expect: There’s a big backlog. We checked yesterday and the next available appointment was June 10.

• Treasurer staffers are working six days a week to catch up but remain in a jam due to restrictions and high demand, Treasurer Mary Wells told supervisors last week.
• Reopening the county administration building and resuming in-person appointments would help resolve the problem, she added.
• June 1 is the target date to reopen, Polk County Chairwoman Angela Connolly told Axios.