ROGERS — State officials can’t say when the revenue office in Rogers will reopen, but they apologize ahead of time for the longer wait at the other four revenue offices in Benton County.
The Rogers location at 2117 W. Walnut St. has been closed since storms damaged the roof May 26, said Scott Hardin. Hardin is spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, which oversees the state’s revenue offices.
The department does not have a planned date to reopen the office but is monitoring the progress of repairs daily, Hardin said. He added the state plans to open the office as soon as possible but wants to ensure customers have a great experience when it does.
Driver’s license and vehicle registrations are among the services handled at state revenue offices. The closure of the Rogers location has caused an increase in traffic at other locations in the region, Hardin said. He added the Bentonville office has stayed open two hours later on multiple days to be able to process the remaining customers in the building.
Jackie Scott, a Rogers resident, said when she visited the Bentonville office last month, the room was crowded and every window was in use with employees working nonstop.
Melody Kwok, communications director for Benton County, said the closure of the Rogers location has added “stress and strain” on the Bentonville office.
In addition to state revenue office operations, the Rogers building houses various county services. State and county services are on opposite sides of the divided building.
County services in the Rogers building reopened July 8. The Rogers site is the main location for the county assessor and county collector and has a satellite office for the county clerk.
Kwok said people often come in looking for state services in the county’s portion of the Rogers office. County employees provide the inquiring residents information on the open revenue offices in the region when that occurs, she said.
The county’s landlord installed a temporary roof, replaced air conditioning units and broken exterior glass and made other repairs needed after the storm, Kwok said. Air quality in the office was found to be normal according to an air quality test the county requested, she said.
A permanent roof is being installed and will take several weeks to complete, Kwok said.
There are 134 revenue offices in Arkansas, Hardin said. According to Benton County’s Facebook page, the other Benton County revenue office locations are in Bentonville, Gravette, Siloam Springs and Decatur.
Rogers Revenue Office employees have been reassigned to Bentonville until Rogers opens to help decrease wait times, Hardin said. He said the Bentonville location is ranked among the busiest in Arkansas, and the state will reassign employees of other offices in the region during the days when wait times increase.
“I think the loss of the Rogers office has put a strain on surrounding offices,” said Elaine Pasley, a Bella Vista resident.
She said she has always used the Gravette office because it usually has a shorter wait time. She said she went a couple of weeks ago, and the office had wait times of more than two hours.
Morgan Harris, a Pea Ridge resident, said he chose to go to the Gravette office after he saw the line at the Bentonville office “snaked through” the entire building. He said he still waited two hours at Gravette to be helped.
A wide variety of revenue office services are available online, Hardin said. Examples include ordering a replacement license, registering a vehicle, ordering a personalized license plate, checking the status of a title and renewing car tags.
The Finance and Administration Department will provide updates regarding the Rogers office on its social media channels as they are available, Hardin said.
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Alternate revenue office locations
Bentonville
Address: 2401 S.W. D St., Suite 3
Phone: 479-273-2724
Gravette
Address: 901 First Ave. S.W., Suite C
Phone: 479-787-5912
Siloam Springs
Address: 707 S. Lincoln, Suite A
Phone: 479-524-3182
Decatur
Address: Municipal Hall, 310 Maple St.
Phone: 479-752-3912
Source: Benton County
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