Kane audit shows county paying $4K per month for zero usage cell phones

GENEVA – A new audit report on Kane County’s cell phone and devices shows that it paid nearly $400,000 from June 2020 to June 2021 on a bill that included phones that are either not used at all or are underused.

Posted Monday on Kane County Auditor Penny Wegman’s website, kanecountyauditor.com, the five-page report will be presented to the Administration Committee at its meeting 10 a.m. Wednesday.

The audit details that the county paid $395,262 to Verizon from June 17, 2020 to June 16, 2021 on 858 devices issued to employees, at an average monthly cost of nearly $33,000. The devices include cell phones, tablets, cards for local wifi hot spots, watches and devices in sheriff’s vehicles, the report stated.

The audit reviewed six months of invoices from Dec. 17, 2020 to June 16, 2021 that showed zero usage accounted for 13% or $4,412 of the average monthly cost, the audit stated, with the total cost for the six months at nearly $30,000.

The audit identified phones with limited usage of less than 50 minutes of talking which accounted for 3% or $860 of the average monthly cost, the report stated, putting the total paid for the six months at $5,160.

“This is less than three minutes of talking and less than two emails with attachments and three minutes of web surfing per work day,” the audit stated.

“I acknowledge that there are savings to be had in the timely termination of services for inactive or unused phones and plans,” according to IT Executive Director Roger Fahnestock’s response in the audit. “After speaking with staff, I think the billing cycle reviewed had many artifacts or remnants from the period of COVID and mass vaccination efforts. Staff continues to review the statements and look for inactive or unused devices to terminate services.”

The audit also identified 29 flip phones in the Public Health Department showing no usage and 10 showing limited usage of less than three minutes per day, the report stated.

When checking for terminated employees, the audit found two lines that were suspended, but still being paid at $85 per month. These were suspended once the findings were presented to those departments, the report stated.

Five had their lines canceled, but the respective departments had not reported them promptly to the IT Department so they could be canceled, the report stated. The Information Technology Department is responsible for new device requests, providing them and their deactivation and disposal.

The monthly Verizon bill is approximately 1,800 pages, but the IT Department’s administrative services manager uses a “quick summary” of the bill – the first two to four pages – which show the total amount due, the audit stated.

The audit recommends that the county develop a mobile device use and management policy which details responsibilities and requirements for each department and each employee who has a device.

“I agree that there is a need for a policy or policies,” according to Fahnestock’s response stated in the audit.

“I believe this would require a group effort including Purchasing, Finance, Human Resources, IT Department, State’s Attorney, Auditor, and Treasurer,” according to Fahnestock’s response in the audit. “I think that the policy would certainly apply to departments but the application of the policy to elected officials would present challenges. I also believe that a policy is only as good as the enforcement mechanism. How would we enforce the policy? Would the enforcement of the policy require additional overhead, staff, and management?”

Fahnestock recommended that the County Board create a policy subcommittee under Human Services or Executive Committee to address the issue, according to the response in the audit.

The audit report also recommended that the county begin a monthly wireless device monitoring process.

This would include usage reports and a monthly department review that would confirm active devices. The process would identify limited and no usage lines and confirm if they are terminated, the audit stated.

Individual departments are responsible for notifying IT when employees are terminated so the devices issued to them can be erased. IT provides a report for phones that were not used in an 90-day period to the other county departments, but they are not required to follow up, the audit stated. And the IT Department requests departments to verify if a phone should remain active.

Fahnestock also stated in the audit response that termination of services is complicated by offices and departments that insist on keeping devices for business continuity, strategic, tactical or emergency purposes.

The audit also recommended a formal and documented wireless device inventory within two months then maintain it on an annual basis. Its purpose would include validating wireless devices’ existence – and whether they’re still being used and by whom.

Fahnestock also supported this recommendation, but if the inventory needs to be managed outside of billing, he recommended additional staff and overhead.