Des Moines Register: Need to renew your vehicle tags or register your car? Be prepared to wait. Currently, an email sent to the Polk County Treasurer’s Office will receive an automated reply saying to expect a turnaround time for a response of 10 business days. If you visit the office without an appointment, expect to wait up to an hour. And if you call, you could be on hold for 30 minutes or more. Before doors opened back up to the public on June 1, Polk County Treasurer Mary Wells said the office was seeing about 136 people a day by appointment only. Now, including walk-ins, the treasurer’s office is serving more than 500 people a day and that number continues to rise. Wells said the backlog has been caused by staff vacancies that can’t be filled until next fiscal year, which starts July 1.