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Cameron County authorizes $200,000 one‑time payment to restore wireless service after billing dispute
Summary
The Commissioners Court authorized a one‑time $200,000 payment to T‑Mobile to resolve delinquent invoices and restore county wireless service after months of unassigned line charges and a recent suspension; auditors and purchasing staff will implement a plan to prevent recurrence.
Cameron County Commissioners on Tuesday authorized a one‑time payment of $200,000 to T‑Mobile to resolve delinquent wireless invoices and restore cellular service for county devices.
The action followed an extended presentation from the auditor’s office about claims and a multimonth effort to reconcile mobile lines that lacked departmental assignments. “We cannot have this happen again,” the presiding judge said, noting the operational risk if emergency or law‑enforcement communications had been affected.
Commissioner Garza moved to authorize the payment “for wireless cellular services in the amount of $200,000 from account 100‑4090 and to authorize a county auditor to process the payment and authorize the treasurer to release the check.” Commissioner Benavides seconded; the motion passed unanimously.
County auditors and purchasing staff had described a months‑long billing problem in which invoices contained many unidentified phone numbers. When providers were unable to apply payments to specific departmental lines, the delinquent balances rolled forward and, in December and again last week, carriers suspended service on inactive or unidentified lines. Internal auditors said part of the solution is clearer departmental approval of service and better vendor billing detail.
The court directed staff to present a plan at the next meeting to prevent future lapses and to identify which departments are responsible for the lines that generated the delinquent balances.
The motion to pay was recorded after the court returned from executive session. The judge said staff had already been working to resolve immediate disruptions and asked the auditor’s office to follow through on accountability and process changes.
