MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — New Minnesota Governor Tim Walz says the state should pull the plug on the troubled vehicle registration system.

He wants to replace MNLARS with commercial software used by other states, costing the taxpayers millions of dollars.

MNLARS was a spectacular meltdown for millions of Minnesota drivers. A $100 million vehicle registration system so broken that getting a simple license tab could take months.

Walz inherited the MNLARS mess, and he’s pulling the plug.

“If we’re going to fail, fail fast and fix it. Save money for the taxpayers and get this thing on the right path,” Walz said. “We have been dying a slow death for 12 years here, certainly over the last two years. It doesn’t make sense.”

A blue ribbon commission on MNLARS decided it’s too cumbersome to fix, so now the state will start over with a private commercial software package. The full review can be read right here.

Total cost to taxpayers is $186 million — including the $100 million already spent on a computer system that didn’t work.