The audit found the state paid more than a half-million dollars a year for 2,000 cellphones that weren’t being used.
What a waste of money. It’s that kind of action that angers the public, makes them more distrustful of government and makes them less willing to believe the governor when she says she needs an increase in the state sales tax to pay for vital government programs.
Re-evaluating cellphone use by employees and converting to prepaid plans likely will save the state $9 million to $18 million over the next five years. That’s not going to solve the state’s $1.4 billion budget deficit, but it’s a step toward increased accountability and efficiency.
Sonntag said his performance auditors analyzed state-funded mobile devices between March 2010 and February 2011 after hearing that other states achieved big cost savings after making changes to cellphone policies.
The auditors reviewed the use of some 22,000 cellphones assigned to 89 state agencies. The phones were purchased through multiple carriers — including Verizon, Sprint and AT&T — and the contracts were maintained by the Department of Information Services, according to Sonntag’s office.
In announcing the audit results, Sonntag said, “This audit could not come at a better time. Recently the governor directed agencies to reduce the number of cellphones and cellphone costs. This report makes specific recommendations on how to do that.”
Sonntag said, “Prior to the directive, our audit had already determined nearly one-third of the phones we reviewed were used infrequently or not at all during the 12 months we looked at, at a cost to the state of $1.8 million. More than 2,000 of those phones were not used once during the audit period, at a cost to the state of more than $533,000.”
Too often state managers are so caught up in providing services, they don’t pay attention to small, seemingly insignificant details. How many managers think to audit cellphone use in their agency? Probably not many. That’s why it’s imperative that Sonntag’s team of auditors take the broader view, look at things like cellphones and the state motor pool from a more global perspective then make recommendations that agency managers can implement.
The good news in Sonntag’s report is that some agencies are already responding to the governor’s directive and are doing a good job of getting rid of unneeded cellular phones.
As Sonntag said, “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 additional savings of $732,565 so far. We are confident that others will follow as they work to be good stewards of precious public dollars.”
And that’s the next step. Sonntag’s performance audit outlines recommendations for agencies to follow.
The auditor recommends that state agencies collect all unused and infrequently used cellphones from state employees. Only those cellphones that are required for emergencies or for the safety of the public or employees should be kept in service, auditors said.
They also recommended that agency managers review their cell phone contracts. Auditors, for example, found that by converting phones serviced by AT&T to prepaid plans, the state could save $347,000. Auditors cited one case which the state paid $443 a month for a phone when it could have provided the same level of service for $100 using a prepaid plan.
Auditors said the state’s master cellphone contracts should have prepaid options and that agency managers need to provide clear directions on which employees should be given cellphones and which price plans the phones should be assigned to.
The auditors also said that agency directors should consider paying employees a stipend for use of their personal cell phones. Washington State University, the state Department of Transportation and Western Washington University already follow this practice.
The audit outlines clear, next steps. It’s imperative that agency managers embrace the audit findings and follow the recommendations to save tax dollars.
