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Highlands Today

County Considers First Written Policy On Cell Phone Use

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By JIM KONKOLY

Highlands Today

Published: October 28, 2008

SEBRING - The cost of providing cell phones to about 150 of the Highlands County commissioners' 400 employees might be reduced under the first ever written cell phone policy, which is under review now by the county commissioners.

If adopted, department directors could give their employees the choice of keeping their county-owned cell phone or using their personal cell phone for county business and getting a monthly allowance.

Commissioners are reviewing a proposal to pay an allowance of $25 per month to employees who use their own cell phones for county business.

"The cost per month on the average phone would be around $10 a phone cheaper with the allowance than with the actual county cell phone," said county Administrator Michael Wright.

Wright said that option would probably be attractive to employees who use cell phones for county business occasionally. Others, whose job regularly entails numerous cell phone calls for county business, would probably opt for the county-owned cell phone, he said.

Once a written cell phone policy is in place, the number of employees authorized to have a cell phone may be reduced.

"We're probably going to cut back on the number of (cell) phones we have, too," Wright said. "We're going to take a hard look at that.

"It's one of those things we're going to scrutinize," he added. "We're going to say, who absolutely needs a phone and why? And then, if its not justified, they won't have one. It's not a perk, it's a requirement for the job. We'll do that as part of the ongoing administrative process that we go through. But we want to have the policy in place first."

The proposed policy puts in writing the county's current verbal rule, stating that: "Calls should only be made or received for official county business except in the case of emergencies or special situations, which should be infrequent."

The policy would require employees with county owned cell phones to turn in their monthly statements, cite all personal calls, and reimburse the county 10 cents per minute for each such call.

Wright said a written policy is needed instead of the verbal rules in place now.

"We are a public entity, and this one of the areas where you have at least the potential for abuse," he said. "It's a necessary part of the job for some positions, but at the same time you have to have some reasonable restrictions on the use."

The proposed policy was drafted by a three-member committee comprised of Bill Nichols, director of the Emergency Operations Center; Eddie Cardona, traffic operations supervisor; and Sherri Bennett, risk management coordinator in the human resources department.

Nichols said the committee studied the cell phone policies of about six counties, took what they considered the best parts of each one, and tried to tailor the draft policy to Highlands County's needs.

"I think it will benefit the county and it will benefit the employees," Nichols said. "When you have something in writing, everybody knows what the rules are and everybody is on the same page. It's easier for everybody to be in compliance if you know what the rules are."

Detailed records of personal calls on an employer-provided cell phone are now required under new IRS guidelines. Personal calls made on such phones are considered a taxable fringe benefit.

The three-member committee said other counties offer the monthly allowance for business use of a personal cell phone in part to streamline record keeping.

"This option," they wrote in their draft proposal, "eliminates the need for the detailed record keeping required by the IRS for cellular telephone use. It also eliminates the costly processing of reimbursements when a county provided phone is used for personal calls, as well as the potential for IRS fines, penalties and interest for inadequate record keeping."

Wright said the proposed cell phone policy is scheduled to go on the county commissioners' agenda at their Nov. 18 meeting.

Jim Konkoly can be reached at 863-386-5855 or e-mail jkonkoly@highlandstoday.com

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