yonkers cell phone usage report

8/9/2019 Yonkers Cell Phone Usage Report

1/5

PHILIP A. AMICONE CITY HALLMAYOR YONKERS, NEW YORK 10701

Ph: 914-377-6107INSPECTOR GENERALDAN SCHORR Fax: 914-377-6990

DEPARTMENT OF INSPECTOR GENERAL CITY OF YONKERS

TO: Chuck Lesnick, City Council President All City Council Members cc: Philip A. Amicone, Mayor FROM: Dan Schorr, Inspector General SUBJECT: Cellular Phone Usage DATE: May 3, 2010

This report is issued in response to City Council Resolution No. 85-2009, which directed theInspector General "to undertake a complete review of the taxpayer-funded cellular-phones and pagersassigned to city employees and elected officials."

Summary ofFindings and RecommendationsThe City spends approximately $255,000 per year on employee cell phones. Increasedmonitoring ofcell phone use, elimination of cell phones that are not regularly used, consolidation ofcell phone plans, and centralization of cell phone administration should result in cost savings fortaxpayers. In addition, a new City cell phone policy that includes random monitoring is recommendedin order to deter improper cell phone use without unduly burdening the City work force.

BackgroundThe Yonkers City Council adopted Resolution 85-2009, which directed the Inspector General toreview the City 's cellular phone usage. The objectives of our review were to:

1. Calculate the annual cost of cell phones for the City2. Quantify the number of cell phones and other equipment3. Identify which departments have assigned cell phones

1


2/5

4. Survey Yonkers departments concerning cell phone assignments and monthly monitoringofusage5. Review applicable City policies and procedures and IRS regulations concerning personalcell phone usage to determine if the City is in compliance

In the course of our audit, we analyzed the thirteen City cell phone bills for the period ofMay-June 2009 and reviewed the details of the main City Verizon cell phone bill for June 2009 to calculateadditional usage charges. We prepared excel schedules to document heavy users, low users, and extrausage charges. In addition, we surveyed all departments that had more than five cell phones to obtainfurther information about how cell phones are administered. We also interviewed John Pagliaroli,Director ofOffice Services, and reviewed policies and procedures for City cell phone use and relevantIRS regulations.Discussion

Overview of City Cell PhonesDuring the period of our review, the City received thirteen cell phone bills each month, four fromVerizon and nine from NexteL In June 2009, 239 of the 433 City cell phones were included on themain City Verizon bill administered by the Department ofOffice Services, and the other 194 phoneswere spread across the twelve additional bills administered by other City departments.Monitoring cell phone use will be more effective and efficient if there is a centralizedadministration ofCity cell phones, instead of having oversight by many different individuals.Furthermore, these bills are not charged to the same City account, thus making tracking andmonitoring more difficult. Account #441 is set up for Mobile Communications and only the Financeand Fire Departments correctly charge this account. However, all other monthly cell phone chargesare recorded in different accounts such as Telephone, Program Supplies, Professional Fees, EquipmentRental, Rental ofCommunication Equipment, Miscellaneous Expense, Special Projects, andCommunication Supplies.Consolidation of these bills should be explored in order to potentially generate cost savings andto improve oversight. City cell phone expenses should be recorded in the same account and centrallyadministered by Office Services to improve fiscal accountability.

Cell Phone Survey Results from City DepartmentsWe surveyed all City departments with five or more cell phones in order to obtain additional

information about department policy, cell phone and blackberry assignments, monthly monitoring ofcell phone usage, and any other pertinent information. All departments responded that they adhere tothe City cell phone policy, which will be discussed in more detail below. In addition, two departmentsstated they had their own supplemental department cell phone policy and guidelines.In general, cell phones and blackberries are assigned by the Commissioner or Director of eachdepartment based on need and the type ofwork the employee performs. Each department that has itsown cell phone bill(s) (twelve) stated that it reviews the bill monthly, which includes all details of

2


3/5

their cell phone usage. Departments that are on the main Verizon bill receive the monthly summarypage for each employee that is sent to them by Office Services.Three departments have unique features on their cell phone plans. Housing and Building only

allows for local calls and direct connect. In Parks, labor supervisors and tree supervisors have Nextelphones with walkie-talkie functions, but can't make or receive calls. Finally, in Parking Violations,Parking Enforcement Officers have pre-programmed, restricted outgoing access but incoming calls arenot similarly restricted.Cost of Phones and Other Equipment

Based on our analysis of June 2009 billings, the City was charged $21,262 for one month ofusage for 433 cell phones, which equates to an approximate annualized cost of $255,000. This amountdoes not include bills for 223 data lines, air cards, and satellite phones, which totaled $9,357, for anadditional annualized cost of approximately $112,000. According to John Pagliaroli, the use ofCitypagers is negligible.

The largest number of assigned cell phones were in the following departments: Police (147),Public Works (53), Code Enforcement / Parking Violations / Consumer Protection (34), Engineering(26), Housing and Building (24), and Fire (22). Almost all of the other equipment mentioned abovewas charged to the Police Department (164) and Fire Department (46).The City purchases a certain number ofpeak minutes for the main Verizon cell phone plan, but isonly billed for overages if the total number of actual minutes used for that bill exceeds the totalamount allowed, not if an individual exceeds hislher specific allotment. The main City Verizon cellphone bill is a government state plan with allotted peak minutes, and 90-95% of the phones on this billare allotted 300 peak minutes per month. The June 2009 Verizon bill had a total allowance of 76,050minutes and the actual usage equaled 69,854 peak minutes. Because the actual minutes used were lessthan the total allotted, there was no extra charge, even though many individuals exceeded their specificallotment. Of the 239 phones, 55 individuals (23%) used a total of37,063 (53%) of the actualminutes. Meanwhile, 85 people (36%) used only a combined 2,145 (3%) minutes.With respect to the total usage (peak and non-peak) of all the 433 City cell phones: 77 were usedmore than 1,000 minutes. Of these 77 phones, 41 were used more than 1,500 minutes, and 20 usedmore than 2,000 minutes during the period ofour review. Additionally, 162 phones were used lessthan 200 minutes and 128 of these phones were used less than 100 minutes.For the main Verizon bill, a 300 minute per month cell phone costs $29.99 per month, while a

600 minute per month phone costs $42.99. For blackberries, a 300 minute phone costs $49.99 and a600 minute phone costs $62.99. Thus, adding another 300 minute phone will cost either $29.99 or$49.99 per month, but adding an additional 300 minutes to an existing phone will only cost $13 permonth. Phones with minimal usage should be eliminated and minutes added to other phones, asnecessary. Having employees share phones, when possible, may lead to further cost savings as theCity reduces the number of actual phones that are purchased. Furthermore, Police and Fire shouldreview their existing data lines and air cards for potential additional cost savings.

3


4/5

Our audit also revealed that for the month of June 2009, the City was billed $572.20 foradditional charges that were not covered in the monthly service plan. The largest of these charges wasfor ninety calls on Verizon cell phones to informationl411 for a monthly charge of$112.50and thirtysuch calls from Nextel phones for a charge of$53.70. These informationl411 charges appear to beexcessive if the City cell phones are to be used in an appropriate and cost effective manner.Furthermore, we found a few instances of improper downloads and purchases ofmusic videos. Oneemployee's charges were forwarded to the Personnel Commissioner for possible disciplinary action.Cell Phone Usage Policies and Procedures

City Policy No. E9 is entitled "Use ofTelephone & Electronic CommunicationSystemslDeviceslEquipment" and purports to govern the use of cell phones issued to City employees.The Policy provides that "telephones .. shall be used for the daily business of the City ofYonkers andnot for personal use."

Section 7 of the Policy addresses cell phones and states:1. All employees are firmly advised not to use their cellular phone while operating avehicle.2. The City issues cellular phones for use when it is necessary to conduct urgent Citybusiness and a land phone is unavailable.3. Cellular phones must be requested through a Commissioner's office. Commissioners areresponsible for enforcing this policy by reviewing the monthly statement of theiremployees.4. The Office Services Department shall forward the monthly statements to theCommissioners on a monthly basis.5. It is not the City's intent to incur the cost of personal calls on cellular telephones.Therefore, each employee must properly review the monthly statement and submit acheck payable to the "City ofYonkers" for the appropriate amount. Reimbursementmust be forwarded to the Office Services Department within 10 business days ofreceiving the monthly statement.

In reality, this policy is not followed, as employees are not provided with details of their monthlycalls in order to review and submit reimbursement, ifnecessary. However, such a review would mostlikely be very time consuming and impractical. Thus, a new policy is needed that includes a realisticmonitoring system to eliminate personal telephone calls that cost the City time and money.Currently, for the main City cell phone bill, Office Services sends a one-page report for each

employee to the relevant department on a monthly basis. This report summarizes all activity for thepast month, listing minutes used, data usage, and any other charges for the period. However, thedetailed usage, listing individual call information, is not sent to the departments. Thus, there isnothing for an employee and/or supervisor to review to determine which cell phone activity is businessrelated vs. personal use.To conform to the current City policy, Office Services would need to send out all call details toeach employee and his/her Commissioner and have them both review the information for each call

4
http:///reader/full/of$112.50http:///reader/full/of$53.70http:///reader/full/of$112.50http:///reader/full/of$53.70


5/5

made over the past month. Such a practice would be very burdensome and is not recommended.Thus, a new policy is needed that provides for oversight of cell phone use by City employees and asystem to monitor for personal use without unduly hampering employee and Commissionerproductivity. We have been told that Human Resources is already in the process of reviewing thecurrent cell phone policy and we suggest a policy that includes random monthly reviews of call detailsfor employees. Each department would be responsible to analyze a select number of employee cellphone bills for business/personal usage and send the results to Office Services to keep on file tosupport this policy.

The IRS has recognized the difficulty in monitoring personal use of employer-provided cellphones. Current law states, "To be able to exclude the use by an employee from taxable income froman employer-owned cell phone, the employer must have some method to require the employee to keeprecords that distinguish business from personal phone charges." However, the IRS itselfhas calledthis policy "burdensome, poorly understood by taxpayers, and difficult for the IRS to administerconsistently." Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman currentlyoppose tax consequences for personal use ofwork-related cell phones, declaring that "the passage oftime, advances in technology, and the nature of communication in the modem workplace haverendered this law obsolete."

Conclusions and RecommendationsOur analysis ofCity cell phone usage reveals that changes need to be made to conform thecurrent cell phone practice to City policy, which should result in cost savings for taxpayers.We make the following specific recommendations:

Create a new City cell phone policy for monitoring monthly cell phone usage that includesrandom monthly reviews of employee call details. Centralize administration of cell phones so that usage and costs can be better monitored. Explore consolidation of the thirteen City cell phone bills in an effort to generate cost savings. Eliminate cell phones for employees with minimal usage and increase plan minutes for others,as needed. Review existing data lines and air cards for additional cost savings.

5

yonkers cell phone usage report

Documents