Audit finds mobile-device billing largely accurate, urges tighter inventory and disposal controls

Louis Hlad, the city's senior IT auditor, told the Audit Oversight Committee on July 20, 2026, that the office's review of mobile communication device management found billing was largely accurate but identified record-keeping and disposal weaknesses that could be tightened to save money and improve controls.

Hlad said the auditors analyzed a 12'month billing cycle (November 2024 through October 2025) and compared carrier billing lists to the city's inventory records in ServiceNow. "We found over 97% of the devices that showed up on those phone bills were present in IT's inventory records," Hlad said, adding that 74 devices on bills were not represented in ServiceNow. The 12'month snapshot included 2,707 devices and the auditors reported about $851,000 in service charges during that period.

The audit focused on three objectives: charges and records accuracy, utilization and need, and approvals and disposals. On utilization, Hlad said 375 devices showed no cellular activity during the year (costing nearly $85,000) and another 215 devices had very low cellular data use (defined by the audit as less than 500 MB per month). He cautioned that carrier records do not show Wi'Fi use, so some tablets and embedded devices may be heavily used on local networks even if cellular activity appears low.

In testing approvals and end'of'life disposals, auditors reviewed a sample of 20 phones assigned to employees who had separated from the city. "Sixteen of the 20 phones went through the established process and showed a record of approval in ServiceNow," Hlad said. Three approvals were documented only in email outside ServiceNow and one phone had no approval evidence. For disposals, five phones were reset and reassigned; 14 had unclear disposal records because the recycler's receipt listed makes and models but not serial numbers; one device in the sample could be reconciled using a newer, more detailed shipment-tracking process the IT team had begun to implement.

Hlad summarized the audit team's recommendations: perform a one'time reconciliation of carrier bills to ServiceNow, establish a recurring reconciliation process, require approvals to be captured in ServiceNow rather than email, and maintain more detailed disposal/shipment records so devices can be traced to vendor receipts.

Chris Craig, director of Innovation and Technology, said IT had already begun addressing several of these issues and described the technical controls the department uses. "We have complete control of them no matter where they're at or how they're connected," Craig said, describing specialized management software that can remotely wipe or "brick" a device. "So from a data security perspective, the concern is extremely low," he added.

Committee members asked whether the city had shopped carriers given the roughly $851,000 in annual charges; Craig said the city has largely centralized on AT&T (noting FirstNet considerations for public safety) and that pricing negotiations with that carrier gave favorable terms for many of the city's public safety devices.

After discussion, a committee member moved and the committee seconded a motion to accept the audit report and recommendations. Chair Price called the motion and the committee voted in favor; the chair instructed staff to post the report. The transcript does not provide a detailed roll'call tally by named member.

The committee's acceptance directs management to continue implementing the report's recommendations and to share usage and reconciliation data with department managers so they can assess the need for specific lines or devices.