A two-week trip overseas cost the City of Statesboro more money in the form of internet fees than a city councilman paid for the entire voyage.
      During a 14-day vacation to China in May, Councilman Will Britt accumulated approximately $2,600 of charges on a Mifi Wireless Internet Card provided him by the city.
      Britt, who claimed to have used the wireless card for routine personal and work-related activities, said charges were inadvertently amassed and plans to repay any amount deemed necessary by City Manager Frank Parker and staff.
      "I think we will have this issue resolved shortly," said Britt. "I will pay whatever amount the city determines is correct; whether it comes straight out of my check over time or all at once in a payment made to the city."
      City officials and the councilman became aware of the significant overseas roaming charges when it received a $700 cell phone bill in early June, said Parker. Weeks later, because the trip overlapped billing periods, City Hall received a second bill totaling another $1,900.
      Britt said he was unaware the city's cell/internet plan featured only nation-wide coverage and formed an impression through conversations with Verizon that charges would not be so extreme.
      "I was under the impression that the charges would not be excessive," he said - The Mifi card was used because his phone could not access the internet, said Britt.
      According to Parker, the Mifi wireless cards are provided to various city employees and can be used for personal and work-related matters, but do have a usage-cap. City employees are responsible for payment if the cap is exceeded, he said.
      The city was notified by Verizon that charges were beyond the limit on May 20, four days into Britt's trip, said Parker.   However, the notice - sent to an employee within the city's Information Technology (IT) Department - was not presented to the city manager, or anyone else, for 11 additional days, he said.
      "An individual with the city sat on that notification and did not relay the message for 11 days," Parker said. "The issue to me is that it came to the city and was ignored. We will establish some policies as far as that is concerned."
      According to Parker, the councilman could have been alerted of rising overages, or the city could have turned the device off if the notification was passed on.
      Parker contacted Verizon to see if any charges may be dismissed - some charges have been dropped in past cases, he said - and will attempt to decipher the amount of overages that are work-related, and those that are personal.
      "I have asked for a full breakdown of each and every charge," said Parker. "I don't know whether we can actually get that. But, if we can determine a particular portion was city-related, we will account for that amount."
      Because the city bill includes more than 100 internet-accessing devices, the city paid the bill in full - to avoid having the network shut down - and will expect a reimbursement from Britt when an amount is determined.
       "The city manager and Mayor Joe Brannen have spoken. When they finish getting the information they need, they are going to tell me what I owe," he said. "When they tell me that, I am going to pay it."
      Councilman Travis Chance is not in complete agreement with the way in which the issue has been addressed.
      "If [the card] is used on a personal trip, then it should be the responsibility of the councilman," he said. "It should not be the responsibility of the city. It is very hard to distinguish what could be determined as city-use or personal-use during a trip like that."
      According to Chance, the full amount of overages should have been paid by Britt prior to payment of the bill by the city. The city could identify overages attributed to city-related use and reimburse the councilman at a later time, he said.
      In regard to the notification of exceedingly high charges that allegedly went unheeded, Chance said: "I do not think it is the IT director's job to monitor and oversee the usage of a wireless piece of equipment for a councilman."
      "Secondly, what should have happened, and looks like didn't happen, is the councilman should have went to the IT department prior to leaving to be informed of the ramifications of using the equipment in another country," said Chance. "That could have solved this problem before it ever became a problem."
      The collection of city officials agree on one front - that the mistake needs to be a catalyst for new regulations.
      City staff will establish a policy determining if, how and when equipment may be taken oversees in the future, said Parker - Anyone taking a city apparatus out of town will have to acquire approval, he said.
      "One thing we are going to do because of this - because of me and my mistake - is require any staff member traveling with any piece of equipment to first notify the IT Department," Britt said. "That way, something like this never happens to anybody else."
      Reimbursements to the city should be paid by Britt as early as next week, said Parker, when the final amount owed is determined.

      Editor James Healy contributed to this report.
      Jeff Harrison can be reached at (912) 489-9454.