Mischief in the Phone Zone
Los Angeles’ Information Technology Agency says that it hasn’t paid the city government’s telephone bills on time because it doesn’t have enough money. In fact, the agency says it has an $18-million budget and more than $20 million in costs.
Failure to pay those bills on time has generated additional costs of $800,000 in late-payment penalties over the past three years. (Keep that number in mind; later on, we’re going to show the agency how to add.)
A city controller’s office audit of Los Angeles government telephone use estimated--conservatively--that city phones accumulate $700,000 every year in long-distance charges. What in blazes for? Are bureaucrats negotiating an end to the Asian economic crisis or a peace settlement in Kosovo? Even if they were, it wouldn’t cost that much. No one yet knows exactly what the calls were for. Add that $700,000-plus to the list.
City workers are also amassing $84,000 a year in directory assistance calls. Is there a telephone book shortage? Everyone’s too important to let his or her fingers do the walking? Yep, add that.
Now we come to what the controller’s office aptly calls the “mystery telephones.” No one quite knows what department is responsible for these telephones or who, if anyone, is assigned to them, but the old ringy-dingy is working overtime on them in terms of long-distance collect calls. Untold thousands of dollars are being charged to these phones, and here’s one example of how bad it can be. One telephone left behind after City Hall was emptied for renovation racked up $900 in long-distance collect calls from England, Florida and other far-flung places.
No one knows what the mystery telephone costs come to, but put down several thousand dollars. Then tally it all and call the Information Technology Agency with the total. If the city government can rein in this pernicious mischief, it will come awfully close to filling the budget deficit that led to the late-payment penalties in the first place. When you phone the agency, just one thing: Don’t call collect.