Latest local news, weather and high school sports from the Midlands

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) -- It appears longer lines are back at the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The Greenville News reported that DMV chief of staff Jeffrey Sanderson says officials think the wait is about 10 minutes longer this year than last year.

Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Larry Grooms says his committee is getting complaints about long lines. Grooms blames an increase in the number of vehicles and a drop in the number of employees at agency offices.

Sanderson says the number of transactions in the first two months of the year was up about 6 percent. He says agency staffing is down nearly 20 percent since 2007.

He says the agency is working to hire more than three dozen temporary, seasonal employees to help at the busiest offices.

------

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)