Pratt disputes Nick Mosby's plan to cut city's phone costs
Baltimore Comptroller Joan M. Pratt took issue Wednesday with a mayoral candidate's claim that the city could save $8 million a year on its phone system.
Pratt — who was long in a dispute with the Rawlings-Blake administration over how to modernize the municipal telephone exchange — said her office has met with vendors across the telecommunications industry but has found no plan that could save the $8.3 million a year that City Councilman Nick J. Mosby suggested.
“We have worked with consultants and analyzed various technical and cost models to replace our current legacy phone system that has become more expensive to maintain,” Pratt said in a statement. “I have not seen any solution that will reduce our expenses by 80 percent as Mr. Mosby stated.”
Mosby, who is running for mayor, listed the savings as part of a plan to cut property taxes for Baltimore homeowners by 15.3 percent and for businesses by 6.57 percent. He said the city would save the money if Baltimore adopts the same operations plan and buys the same equipment as San Antonio.
San Antonio spends $3.21 per resident on its municipal phone system, he said. Baltimore's costs $16.56, according to his research. Mosby worked in the telecommunications industry for a decade.
Mosby's campaign stood behind its projection Wednesday. He said his research is based on the number of city workers and populations in both cities and their current budgets for telecommunications services.
Pratt's clash with the Rawlings-Blake administration led to an ethics complaint, an inspector general's investigation and a court battle. The two are now working together to upgrade the bulk of the city's 10,000 phone lines, adding features such as conference calling and call waiting.
PREVIOUS ARTICLE
