Fayette sues over high phone bills
City administrator Robin Triplett said the phone system in Fayette city government became easier to use in 1999. The city signed a contract with AT&T for its “Plexar” service, allowing them to transfer calls easily between city hall and its three other buildings. The city renewed the contract in November 2012 for $849 a month, lasting until 2017.
“Rates may change, but in no case exceed the rates set forth in this Pricing Schedule, during the term,” the contract with AT&T and the city of Fayette reads.
The city relies on that line in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Howard County against the telecommunications company. From 2012 to the present, the lawsuit claims AT&T charged far more than the agreed upon $849 a month, costing the city $82,568 “with no reasonable explanation of the charges and how they relate to the contract agreement of November 27, 2012.”
“It’s an awful lot of money for a small city,” Triplett told ABC 17 News. “That’s why we started looking at different services, because we can’t afford that.”
The suit claims that the city’s first bill after signing the contract was for $1,799, followed by a $1,797 bill in December 2012. AT&T provided the city a “credit” of $2,134 in May 2013 to “correct charges,” according to an email, after Triplett said an employee asked the company about the high charges.
The lawsuit said the over-charging continued, though, with the bill exceeding $2,000 in December 2013. Triplett said the city finally switched Plexar services in June 2015, trying to resolve the contract issue with AT&T in the meantime.
“All we want is something that’s fair and equitable to the contract that we signed,” Triplett said. “That’s all that we’re looking for.”
An AT&T spokeswoman said the company had not yet seen the lawsuit, and would not comment on it.
The city administrator said most of the money used to pay the bills come from the general fund, a collection used to fund several different city services. Triplett said they could have used the money primarily for road repairs. Triplett said the city budgeted a little more than $9,000 for its phone and Internet service for the fiscal year. Its AT&T bill for January 2016, still charging for the Plexar service, cost $2,870.37 – with more than $10,000 in unpaid bills. Triplett said the city did pay around $1,400 for the month, since the city wants to still do business with AT&T for some fax lines, alarm lines and Internet service.
