110 W. New York Ave., DeLand, FL
386-734-4622
By Al Everson
posted Feb 26, 2009 - 2:27:54pm
Talk is cheap — or is it, when the bill amounts to almost a quarter-million dollars?
With no objection, at a recent meeting the Volusia County Council approved two contracts for cell-phone services for county employees.
The price agreements with Sprint/Nextel and AT&T Mobility for 2008-09 were arranged by Western States Contracting Alliance, a consortium of purchasing organizations that negotiates for volume discounts for wireless communications.
“We’re getting the best prices,” county spokeswoman Pat Kuehn said.
The contract calls for the county to pay about $186,120 to Sprint/Nextel, and about $43,170 to AT&T Mobility.
The county also has a separate agreement to pay Verizon $8,000. The Verizon contract was based on the State of Florida’s price agreement with that company.
Each of the price agreements resulted from competitive bidding, Kuehn said.
The county’s anticipated cell-phone costs for the current year are well below those of the 2007-08 fiscal year.
“We are always looking for ways to reduce our costs,” Kuehn said. “Our division and department directors review their bills monthly.”
Last year, the county’s bill with Sprint/Nextel was $415,611.43, and its charges from AT&T Mobility totaled $57,203.15.
“Cell phone vendors are free to sell their services to departments and division directors. The choice of a cell phone vendor is at the discretion of department and division directors based on the availability of funds in their individual adopted annual budgets and their business requirements,” Kuehn explained in an e-mail to The Beacon. “Department and division directors determine which of their employees need cell phones.”
About 37 percent of county employees — 1,129 workers — have county-issued cell phones, and not fancy ones, Kuehn said.
“Nobody has an iPhone,” she said, referring to the advanced — and pricey — model that includes games, music storage and Internet access.
Of the Sprint/Nextel users last year, the Sheriff’s Office was the biggest customer, with expenses totaling $132,257.67.
In a distant second place was Beach Safety, with $30,253.48 in charges.
Other county agencies using Sprint/Nextel phones and/or wireless-data cards are the County Manager’s Office, Daytona Beach International Airport, Leisure Services, Road and Bridge, Votran Information Technology, and Fleet Management.
The biggest users of AT&T Mobility in fiscal 2007-08 were the Property Appraiser’s Office, Traffic Engineering, Environmental Management, the County Council, Animal Services, and Road and Bridge.
As for the county’s policy on cell-phone usage, Kuehn said employees may use them only for official business or in cases of personal or family emergencies.
Reader Comments
The comments posted below are posted by readers, not by The Beacon staff. These comments express the views and opinions of the authors, and not the administrators, moderators or webmaster. The comments forum is governed by these rules. Please use the report abuse link if you find offensive comments.
The paper read as follows: "The county’s anticipated cell-phone costs for the current year are well below those of the 2007-08 fiscal year."
Comment on this article
Commenting is closed for this article.
If you would like to contribute a letter to the editor, please click here.
Did you find this story interesting or informative? Subscribe to The DeLand-Deltona Beacon to read more stories by Al Everson, along with others from our award-winning writers. Subscribe now!
Photos - Real Estate - Newcomer's Guide - Beacon Magazines - Advertise - Local Web Sites - About Us - Beacon Archives