SACRAMENTO — Soaring wait times at Department of Motor Vehicles offices across California last summer were the result of a “reactive culture” at the agency that led to poor planning for the rollout of a new identification card and inattention to customer service, according to a state audit released Wednesday.

The report, completed by the state Finance Department at the request last fall of former Gov. Jerry Brown, faulted the DMV for staffing, scheduling and technology practices that are not equipped to deal with all the people who need the agency’s help.

“This foundation supporting DMV operations reflects a reactive culture that has adversely impacted the field office customer experience,” the audit said.

During visits to 30 DMV offices last fall, Finance Department staffers found that an average of 30 percent of service windows were closed. An analysis of employee rosters indicated that the offices would have been unable to open more than 89 percent of windows at any given time, according to the audit.

An old computer network, which can’t adequately support DMV operations and suffered widespread outages last year, exacerbated the problems.

The audit recommended that the DMV staff offices according to demand and consider hiring part-timers if needed to open all service windows. It also encouraged the DMV to improve its appointment process and consider ways to reduce the need for people to come to offices to renew their driver’s licenses and vehicle registration.

DMV acting Director Kathleen Webb wrote in a response that she agreed with the audit’s findings and said the agency is “committed to re-engineering business practices and reducing wait times to enhance customer experience.” It has 60 days to develop a plan.

Brown ordered the audit as public outrage grew over hours-long waits at the DMV. The department was slammed with processing applications for the new Real ID license, which everyone will need to board domestic airline flights beginning in October 2020.

The report found that although the DMV knew for more than a decade that the new licenses were coming, its planning for the January 2018 rollout was inconsistent and that agency officials didn’t make it a priority until the last minute. Those problems highlighted “significant weaknesses in its underlying governance structure and organizational culture,” the audit said.

Republicans, including gubernatorial candidate John Cox, seized on the wait times as a political issue last summer. Assemblyman Jim Patterson, R-Fresno, requested an independent audit of the DMV in August that was scuttled by Democrats.

“This audit explains what the public and the Legislature have known for some time,” Patterson said in a statement Wednesday. “The DMV directors were asleep at the switch for a decade leading up to the Real ID rollout and customers paid the price with exploding wait times.”

Shortly after taking office in January, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the formation of a “strike team” to modernize the DMV. His office posted a job application this week for a DMV director to replace Jean Shiomoto, who retired in December.

Alexei Koseff is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff