A Statesboro City Councilman, whose use of a city-provided Internet card amassed more than $2,000 of additional fees for Statesboro’s monthly bill, is expected to reimburse the city by the end of the week.  
    Councilman Will Britt, who accrued approximately $2,600 in charges on a Verizon Mifi Wireless Internet Card during a 14-day vacation to China, submitted a $1,000 payment to Statesboro and should complete repayment later this week, according to City Manager Frank Parker.
    Britt provided the city a check Friday and will forfeit the remaining sum when Parker determines a final amount owed — the city manager is currently attempting to have some charges from the tab removed.
    “We wanted to go ahead and get the process started,” said Britt, who used the wireless card because he could not gain Internet access with his cell phone while overseas. “We wanted to send a message to the public and staff that we are going to move forward and get this done.”
    According to Parker, Verizon reduced the bill to about $1,900 and may remove more charges prior to the week’s end.
    Parker also will attempt to determine if any fees were business related — according to Britt, some use was personal and other work-related — and subtract that amount from the councilman’s total bill.
    “I will pay whatever amount the city determines is correct,” said Britt. “I will do whatever I need to do.”
    As a result of the incident, city officials intend to implement policy regarding how future instances – when city technology is taken outside city limits — are handled.
    The current technology contract does not contain specific guidelines about using equipment outside Statesboro, said Parker.
    In the future, anyone taking a city apparatus out of town will have to acquire approval, he said.
    The current agreement between the city and its staff for using devices like the Mifi card does allow for the possibility of personal use of the equipment, said Parker.
    According to the contract signed by staff, “some of this equipment might be used with discretion and with advance approval of a department head for limited personal use.”
    Britt says he is open to discussing the issue if it arises during council’s regularly scheduled meeting today in City Hall at 6 p.m.

        Jeff Harrison can be reached at (912) 489-9454.