By Lauren Ohnesorge – Senior Reporter, Triangle Business Journal

North Carolina’s new state auditor is going after the Department of Motor Vehicles and, potentially, initiating an analysis of state government similar to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

Dave Boliek, a Republican former attorney who was elected last year, knew the DMV would be one of his main targets for scrutiny. He said the DMV audit, which he launched in February, has “taken a little longer than I anticipated from the get-go.”

“There’s clearly a lot of bureaucracy within the DMV and it’s in need of a tremendous amount of work in terms of an ultimate reorganization,” said Boliek, a former chairman of the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees, where he worked to create the board’s Audit and Risk committee.

DMV officials have acknowledged the issues — from long lines to the limited number of appointments available. They’ve said much of the problem comes down to staffing. Last year, a request to hire about 60 new DMV employees was denied. Gov. Josh Stein’s recent budget proposal calls for adding 85 DMV workers in the state, but it would need to be approved by the Republican-led General Assembly.

When asked about staffing, however, Boliek wouldn’t say whether he’d be in support of more personnel at the DMV. He said the audit will be built on “really strong data sets and really strong pieces of information.”

“I would say there’s a lot of questionable decisions by management at the DMV,” he said, declining to elaborate.

Boliek called a bill to transfer authority over the state Board of Elections to the auditor’s office a “surprise,” but one he’d be “ready and willing and able to accomplish.”

He said Republican-led legislation falls within the competencies of his office — from proposals that would allow audits of any parties using state grants to a measure that would give the office more power to recommend job reductions.

Boliek said he has not been directly involved in legislative efforts to give his office more power. He said he does not have a personal stance on whether his office should conduct audits to ensure that spending is not being directed toward DEI, something that’s been proposed.

But he does agree with some Republican lawmakers who have said his office should take a leadership role when it comes to finding efficiencies. It’s a take that’s seen comparisons made to what DOGE has done in Washington. But Boliek doesn’t see the auditor’s office as having the same aggressive approach.

DOGE has been criticized for initiating sweeping cuts that have led to chaos and confusion across the federal government without conducting audits of departments and offices. Some of the layoffs have already been walked back.

Boliek said his office would make efficiency recommendations based on audits it performs — and wouldn’t take action without the data to support it.

“What I’m committed to is a structured approach, and that is agency by agency, institution by institution, taking a data-driven look at efficiencies that can be gained across a lot of different parts of government,” he said. “My view is there are plenty of efficiencies and a lot of places where we can make everything better, but we don’t have the dumpster fire in North Carolina that is burning in D.C.”

Boliek said the emphasis will be on “being right.”

“We want to be accurate, we want to be data-driven, we want to have the facts,” he said.

Asked what he would tell state employees concerned about DOGE-style cuts, Boliek said,
“I think they as taxpayers should want their government to work efficiently as well. I think if you work hard and you bring value to the people of North Carolina, then there’s going to be a place for you, I am certain, in state government.”

The preceding article originally appeared on April 15, 2025 at the Triangle Business Journal’s website and is made available here for educational purposes only. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 106A-117 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Any views or opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Carolina Leadership Coalition. Photo above: State Auditor Dave Boliek