I’ll have a story sometime this weekend about a city-commissioned report to help it cut costs and be a leaner operation. The study found that Fremont is a pretty lean operation, but nevertheless made recommendations that could save up to $20 million.
One of the more interesting ones — albeit a smaller one — was about cell phones.
Here’s what it said:
City-Issued Cell Phones
Fremont currently issues over 450 cell phones to about half (53%) of its workforce. Approximately 265 cell phones are allocated to Police Department staff; 49 cell phones are assigned to Fire Department staff and apparatus; and 116 cell phones are provided to City staff in other departments.
Table 35. Cell Phone Annual Costs
Provider FY 2009/10 FY 2010/11 Verizon $175,421 $186,983 Nextel $26,065 $17,939 TOTAL $201,486 $204,922
53%, lulz.
Fremont is obviously a cash strapped muni desperately trying to maintain services.
I blame Amazon.com for the weak ass data and text plans that hinder our Fremont employees.