Comptroller’s follow-up audit finds fewer unused city wireless devices; MIS moved to centralize management

City auditors updated the Committee on Finance on a third audit of wireless-device management on Oct. 7, 2025, reporting measurable reductions in underused devices and lower average costs per device after management changes by the Department of MIS.

Sam Bruno, city auditor, summarized the audit history. The initial audit (issued September 2020) found no single department had responsibility for monitoring wireless accounts and that roughly 47% of the city’s devices went unused, costing the city about $48,000 annually in unused-device charges at the time. A 2022 follow-up showed improvements but not meaningful cost reductions; Bruno said MIS then centralized management, instituted device inventories, drafted a user agreement and implemented quarterly department reviews.

In the July 2025 follow-up audit, the auditor reported unused devices fell to 19 percent and the average monthly cost per device decreased about 15 percent, from roughly $37 to $31. Bruno told the committee the monthly cost of unused devices declined from about $4,400 to about $2,700 and that the city’s total device costs declined about 9 percent despite an overall increase in device count.

Bruno credited MIS staff and CIO Daryl Springer for implementing the recommendations and noted MIS began a migration from AT&T FirstNet to Verizon to capture further cost savings after establishing stronger internal controls.

The committee closed discussion and moved the item forward without recommendation; MIS and the Comptroller’s Office will continue to implement and monitor the audit recommendations.