LITTLE ROCK — The state of Arkansas probably spends about $9 million a year for cellular telephone service. And there are probably about 15,000 cellular devices paid for by taxpayers.
Or, the state spends closer to about $7.99 million a year for about 14,000 of the devices.
Specifics — exactly how much is spent and exactly how many state employees have phones paid for by the state — are foggy.
A lot of the state’s cellular phone service is through AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. Contracts are negotiated by the Office of State Procurement, but it is up to each state agency to pick which employees need wireless devices and to pay the bill.
In response to media requests, the office obtained company records that show that about 75 state agencies, boards, commissions, universities and even one legislator had $8.92 million worth of contracts for 15,076 cell lines in fiscal 2010.
But when contacted by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, nearly all of those agencies said their records showed a different number of cellular lines or a different amount spent, with some being higher and others lower. What state agencies reported added up to close to $7.99 million and 14,423 devices in fiscal 2010.
Arkansas contracts require cell-phone companies to make monthly reports on the number of phones used by state employees, and the companies have done so. Those reports show that the state spent $8.3 million for 13,976 lines in fiscal 2010.
Procurement office director Jane Benton said the difference between the information the companies provided to her office and what the agencies told the Democrat-Gazette could be attributed to several things.
For one, it might simply be how each company calculates the monthly bill, she said.
Or it could be that the wireless companies grouped information incorrectly because they don’t understand the structure of Arkansas government, Benton said.
Or, she said, it could be that some agencies signed cell-phone contracts without going through her office.
“I don’t think you’re ever going to be able to reconcile it,” Benton told the newspaper.
She said it is up to the individual agency to decide which employees get cellular devices.
“To our knowledge, there is not a statewide policy,” Benton said.
Benton said the Office of State Procurement requested the companies’ cell-line information but does not normally receive or ask for those reports. She wasn’t aware of any periodic report or supervision of the number of devices that state employees have and that taxpayers pay for, she said.
Benton said the wireless companies don’t always understand the hierarchy of state government, for instance what division belongs under what agency, and often cell lines are listed as being with the incorrect agency.
It is not clear what agency the phone companies mean when they refer to the “Emergency Services Office,” “P and H Forestry” and “Prosecuting Attorney,” all of which could be under several agencies.
Representatives for the phone companies told the Democrat-Gazette that because of privacy concerns, they could not clarify what agency was meant in those instances.
“The state, I know, is a governmental body, but it’s still a customer, and we won’t reveal customer information,” Verizon spokesman Sheryl Sellaway said.
Benton said the Office of State Procurement does not control how phone companies refer to state agencies in the companies’ records.
SOME OVERSIGHT?
Richard Weiss, director of the Department of Finance and Administration, which oversees the Office of State Procurement, said there doesn’t need to be statewide oversight of state employees’ cell-phone use. He said that is the agencies’ responsibility.
“I think that most agencies have policies and procedures. Each agency is now responsible for its budget, managing its funds, managing its people, hiring the right people, doing all of these functions,” Weiss said.
He said managing who has state-funded cell phones falls into that same category.
“I don’t think there should be some great state oversight or creating a new department to look at cell phones,” Weiss said. “I think for damn sure that every agency ought to be responsible and be responsive and know who’s got it and all that stuff.”
A series of Democrat-Gazette articles published last year about state vehicles led Gov. Mike Beebe to order Weiss’ department to review the number of state vehicles and how they were used.
The review led the governor to limit some state vehicle use to commuting to and from work, and a website was set up to track the number of vehicles state agencies have and how they are used. The website is https://www.ark. org/dfa_statevehiclesearch/ index.php.
Beebe said whether such tracking is needed for wireless devices should be looked at.
“Would it be nice if there was one central clearinghouse? I suppose. To my knowledge that’s never been an issue to this point. You may make it an issue, and we may have to look at it. At this point, though, I was unaware of the need for a state central clearinghouse, but we saw with other issues like cars the need to have more centralized control,” Beebe said. “We’ll look and see if there are abuses that need to be addressed, and we’ll act accordingly.”
HOW IT WORKS
The Office of State Procurement negotiates a contract for state agencies to get lower rates for certain products and services. Agencies can then access that contract when they need something for the office such as a cell phone, Office of State Procurement Deputy Director Robin Rogers said.
“They reference our state contracts, and then they go directly to the vendor,” Rogers said. “So we don’t see those actual orders.”
According to the phone company data, the state had the most cell-line numbers — 11,394 — through AT&T. It had 3,369 with Verizon and 313 with Sprint.
Camber Thompson, the Office of State Procurement employee in charge of the contracts, said the “cell line” category includes a mix of cell phones, data plans (like Internet access on tablet computers) and wireless connection devices (such as air cards) that use cell-phone numbers to connect to the Internet.
The data provided to the office by the phone companies include “anything that had a phone number attached to it,” she said.
The mix is sometimes misunderstood. In June, state Republican Party spokesman Katherine Vasilos used the data to accuse the governor of having 70 cell phones when the office employed 56 people.
Beebe’s spokesman Matt DeCample said the 70 figure actually was for 49 wireless phones for office employees, two phones for emergency use, six air cards and wireless access for a laptop, along with three phones for the governor’s state police detail and nine phones for staff members at the Governor’s Mansion.
The number of cell lines in the data that the phone companies gave the procurement office was based on the highest number of cellular numbers that agencies had at any point during the fiscal year, Thompson said. The actual number may have fluctuated during the year, she said.
SAVING MONEY
The contracts are first negotiated by the Western States Contracting Alliance, which is part of the National Association of State Procurement Officials. Thompson said the contracts with each company were competitively solicited by the Nevada procurement office. Participating states can then modify those contracts to meet their needs.
Arkansas is one of 35 states that use the wireless communication equipment contract, according to the contracting alliance’s website.
According to the National Association of State Procurement Officials, cooperative purchasing contracts can provide an item or service for up to 52 percent below the retail price.
Arkansas’ contract with Sprint says rate plans will be provided at a 25 percent discount with several other discounts built in for headsets and other items.
Verizon’s contract says all retail service plans with monthly access fees of $34.99 or more will receive 18 percent discounts as long as there are at least 15,000 lines being utilized through the contract.
Data provided by Verizon show that at most Arkansas had 3,369 Verizon lines in fiscal 2010.
The AT&T contract says the company has 20 percent discounts on monthly service charges on voice and data plans.
NUMERICAL DIFFERENCES
In many cases, the agencies’ records and the company numbers provided to the Office of State Procurement differed by a few hundred dollars or a few cell lines. For others, the difference was much larger.
The Department of Finance and Administration, the umbrella agency over the Office of State Procurement, had a $46,016 difference in what the phone companies say was spent and what the department’s records show was spent.
The phone companies’ records for the department showed 424 lines at a cost of $236,680.25 in fiscal 2010, but the department’s budget office shows that it had 427 lines that year at a cost of $190,664.
The Correction Department’s phone bills show that it paid about $85,000 more than the phone companies’ records show and had 110 more cell numbers, spokesman Dina Tyler said.
The phone companies’ documents listed 136 lines at $33,124.84 for the Forestry Commission, but Christina Fowler, who was the commission spokesman at the time, said the commission had 171 lines and spent $76,064.44 in fiscal 2010.
The Administrative Office of the Courts is shown to have 33 lines at $26,721.04 in the phone company records, but that office said it had 26 lines at a cost of $19,720.94 in fiscal 2010.
Department of Higher Education spokesman Brandi Hinkle said her department spent about half of what was reported by the phone companies and had one less line. The companies showed 11 lines at a cost of $10,004.24. The department’s records show 10 lines costing $5,400, Hinkle said.
DISTRICT 22
Verizon records list “State Rep. District 22” as having two cell lines at a cost of $1,046 in fiscal 2010.
That year, Rep. Bill Abernathy, D-Mena, represented House District 22. It is the only entry that refers to a lawmaker.
Abernathy said he doesn’t know how his district ended up in Verizon’s records. He said he has always gotten cell-phone service through AT&T.
“They’ve never been my provider, I’ve never been with them,” Abernathy said. “I had my personal, but I’ve never had a state cell phone.”
Front Section, Pages 1 on 10/30/2011