State wasted nearly $2 million on unused or little-used cell phones
by SUSANNAH FRAME / KING 5 News
Posted on November 18, 2011
Olympia, WA - Nearly one-third of state-issued cell phones reviewed over a 12-month period by the State Auditor’s Office were used infrequently or not at all at a cost to taxpayers of $1.8 million.
More than 2,000 of those phones weren’t touched -- not used at all -- during the audit period of March 2010 through February 2011. The bill for the unused phones was $533,000.
The state spent $1.3 million on phones that were only lightly used in the time period. According to the audit, about 4,700 phones were used fewer than 30 minutes a month.
The audit also found the state missed opportunities to save money by choosing costly and inefficient cell phone plans.
“When we analyzed the use of phones serviced by AT&T, we found the state could save an additional $347,000 by changing most regularly used phones to a prepaid plan,” wrote Sonntag.
The audit comes exactly two weeks after Gov. Gregoire issued a directive to all state agencies to cut down on the number of cell phones and cell phone costs.
The state’s largest agency, the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), had the largest number of little- or unused phones during the time period. DSHS spent $1.4 million on cell phones in the year’s time on 4,284 phones. Of those, 649 were identified as unused and 1,327 were identified as not used much at all. The cost to taxpayers for those phones was more than $500,000.
The auditor recommended that state agencies turn in all unused and little-used cell phones unless they’re required for emergencies. Sonntag also recommended that the Department of Enterprise Services (DIS), which maintains the phone contracts, use more pre-paid plans and offer stipends to employees who use personal cell phones for state business. According to the audit, some state agencies, including the Department of Transportation, already follow this practice.
Sonntag commended state agencies that have already cut back on their cell phone expenditures.
“I also would like to give credit here to state agencies that, in total, already have taken nearly 2,000 phones out of service and that have changed plans, resulting in an estimated savings of $732,565 so far,” wrote Sonntag. “We are confident others will follow as they work to be good stewards of precious public dollars.”