AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ State auditors are criticizing a Texas agency’s contract with AT&T that was initially listed as costing $1 million and then swelled to $105 million over the course of seven years.
A report released Tuesday by the State Auditor’s Office also found that the Health and Human Services Commission contract involved agency employees who previously worked for AT&T, representing a conflict of interest.
The initial four-year contract with AT&T for phone services was signed in 2008 and cost nearly $48 million. Three years later it was amended to nearly $81 million, but then later increased to $105 million.
Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek says the $1 million figure was included in early paperwork as an estimate on the cost of the bidding process for the contract.