Here’s one for government watchdogs to put on the November call-back list.
That’s when Auditor Brian Sonntag expects to release results of a performance review focusing on how Washington government uses cell phones and other wireless devices.
If state agencies operate anything like those in other places where similar cell phone audits have been conducted, the results promise to be interesting.
“We think we will be able to identify some opportunities to save money,” said Bruce Botka, who is assistant director on the performance audit.
The background paper outlining the work plan for the cell phone audit contains some eyebrow-raising details:
“Washington state does not centrally track the number of devices issued, how frequently they are used or the total amount it spends for wireless services. The state does not have uniform policies governing agencies’ distribution of cell phones to employees. Each agency monitors its own policies and practices.”
A similar audit of 50,000 government wireless accounts in California found 25 percent were idle. The monthly cost for those unused phones was calculated at $300,000.
In New Jersey, an audit found one in six government phones were not being used — a $3.2 million hit.
Botka said Washington’s audit is focusing on contracts with wireless vendors who supply the bulk of the cell phones used by state government. There are other contracts, too, negotiated by the individual agencies.
Auditors aren’t yet prepared to discuss what they’ve been finding, but the big contracts alone cover more than 20,000 phones and wireless cards and cost the state about $9 million last year, Botka said.
The auditor’s office in June released a broader report on the state government’s telecommunications system, which included discussion about the more than 44,000 land lines dedicated to government agencies and their employees. Those phones are outside the scope of the cell phone audit.
The state in the past has found employees misusing wireless devices, and the embarrassing stories still live on the web. The cell phone audit now under way appears focused on the bigger picture.
It aims to:
•Reduce costs by identifying phones and devices that aren’t being used.
•Suggest consistent policies across state agencies governing cell phones.
•Reform the way state agencies gather and report on the costs of their cell phone use.
Auditors hope state lawmakers and agency heads can use the information in the next round of budget discussions, Botka said.
•
There was an interesting post Aug. 12 in Nailed, the blog written by Carl Hammersburg, who leads the Fraud Prevention and Compliance program at the state Department of Labor & Industries.
The post airs allegations against Alexander Styles, a Lynnwood chiropractor, now facing first-degree theft charges. Court papers detail how Styles allegedly billed the state for treatment that clients couldn’t have received.
How do investigators know? The patients were serving time, locked up as guests at gray-bar hotels around the state. The good doctor doesn’t make jail cell calls, according to investigators.
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