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Commissioners authorize one‑time $200,000 payment to T‑Mobile after countywide service suspension
Summary
Following a countywide cellular service suspension tied to unidentified billing lines and a transition from AT&T to T‑Mobile, commissioners authorized a one‑time $200,000 payment to restore wireless service and directed staff to present a remediation plan.
Auditors told the Commissioners Court that several invoices for county mobile lines lacked budget line items, which caused portions of mobile bills to go unpaid and allowed delinquent balances to roll forward. The problem dated back months, auditors said, and culminated in a recent T‑Mobile service suspension that affected many county devices.
Jose Blanco, lead intern auditor (speaker 24), told the court that statutory payment rules require invoices to reference a budget line item, and that unidentified lines were not paid until departments could be identified. The court heard that a balance of roughly $300,000 was attributable to AT&T accounts and a similar figure to T‑Mobile (transcript figures approximate). To immediately restore county telecommunications, the court authorized a one‑time payment of $200,000 from account 100‑4090 and instructed the county auditor and treasurer to process and release the check. Commissioners also requested a plan prior to the next meeting to prevent recurrence, including tighter purchasing controls on adding lines.
What happens next: County finance and procurement staff will report back on an identification and billing control plan; the $200,000 payment was authorized to restore critical county communications.
