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This is a fraction of a long line that snaked out of the Jefferson County Courthouse in downtown Birmingham on Friday, Sept. 30, 2011. People must wait in line to purchase their car tags because the county has suspended online tag renewals until the program can be changed to accommodate requirements that citizenship be proved before tags are issued. (The Birmingham News/Tamika Moore)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - What do you value more - your time or your money?

If you want to avoid Jefferson County's notoriously long car tag lines, $39 can guarantee you one of the first 10 spots - no waking up before the crack of dawn required.

Don't Wait 4 It, a professional line-standing service formed earlier this year, bills itself as a way for people to free their mornings. Jefferson County residents can quickly get a tag renewed, register a new car or conduct any other business at the downtown Department of Motor Vehicles office.

Just pick a morning, pay the fee, arrive at 7:45 a.m. and drink the hot cup of coffee your personal line-stander has brewed for you.

Birmingham resident David Bley stumbled upon the inspiration for Don't Wait 4 It by visiting the DMV himself last December. Though he arrived at 6:30 a.m., the line had already wrapped around the building. He spoke with others waiting in line, many of whom used vacation days because they anticipated a five or six hour ordeal.

While focused on residents with particular issues preventing a prolonged wait, the service is available to anyone.

"Our three target groups are people who can't take a day off work because they just started new job or can't afford it; people who might have a hard time being out there, maybe they're older or pregnant; and people who have been disenfranchised by the system, who maybe don't have time, work-wise, to be able to take off," Bley said.

He and a few friends launched the service this fall, and it has already grown. The line-standers, who arrive about 5 a.m., accommodate others in line by sharing coffee and snacks and bringing extra chairs.

"Just having those few little things opens up people's imaginations to it," Bley said. "We've never had anyone give us a hard time."

The line-standers themselves don't let the time spent waiting go to waste. Some are between jobs and use the time to seek employment; others are business owners who use the early-morning hours to clear out emails or handle other tasks.

Bley, a photographer, spends several hours a day working on his computer.

"Why not help someone at the same time?" he said. "You've got no other obligations that early in the morning. It's helped me focus and get done what I need to get done, and then you've got the whole day ahead of you."

The lines for car tags and other motor vehicles services - an ongoing problem in Jefferson County - have steadily increased over the past few years. Residents have braved cold, rain and wind as lines have snaked outside the three courthouses where services are offered.

County officials have discussed several remedies for the long lines, from hiring more employees in certain departments to updating technology.