Audit spurs state agencies quickly to cut cellphone costs

Published 3:59 pm Wednesday, November 30, 2011

State auditors knew they were onto something earlier this year when they began scrutinizing how Washington’s government agencies have been spending more than $9.2 million a year on cellphones.

Similar audits in other states found thickets of confusing service plans and millions of dollars lost on unused phones. There were strong clues something was amiss here, too.

“During the course of the audit, people started dumping phones like crazy,” Mindy Chambers, director of communications for state Auditor Brian Sonntag, said recently.

Washington’s audit found nearly one third of the cellphones issued to state workers were rarely being used, and in more than 2,000 examples, not used at all. Sonntag calculated the state spent $1.8 million on unnecessary government cellphones during the year studied.

The audit made headlines around the state. Its findings also snapped neatly together with a Nov. 4 directive from Gov. Chris Gregoire, instructing state agencies to get rid of unneeded phones and to ensure service contracts are the best possible value.

By the time the audit was published Nov. 18, state agencies had pulled 2,000 phones from service and entered new agreements. Combined savings topped $732,000, Sonntag reported.

About 45 percent of the state’s cellphone tab can be traced to three large agencies — the departments of Social and Health Services, Transportation and Corrections. Combined, those departments also accounted for about half of the phone spending questioned in the audit.

Sonntag’s office says the state needs expert help to develop a universal strategy for managing cellphone costs and service plans. So far, state agencies have been entering contracts and passing out phones as they think best. An appendix to the report (PDF, page 32) details what that looks like, department by department. Some of the data are re-purposed below. With a little math, it becomes clear the state has been spending nearly $1,000 a year for phones used by one state agency and less than $250 a year for others.

That also means costs vary for infrequently used phones. The data show that some of the most expensive under-used phones turned up in the offices of the state Insurance Commissioner ($697.60), the Workforce Training &Coordinating Board ($586), the Governor ($534) and the State Auditor ($520.80).

That’s correct, Chambers said. At least two phones used by top people in Sonntag’s office were turned in as a result of questions raised in the audit.

“We just believed it was important to get our own house in order,” she said, adding that the audit provides a good road map for the state in taming cellphone expenses.

And for the record, Sonntag carries a cellphone he pays for out of his own pocket, Chambers said.

State cellphone audit findings

Agencies with fewer than 17 cellphones are not listed. Find the original data here.