Multinational communications provider Verizon kept nearly $500,000 in revenue that should have gone to Nassau County’s 911 emergency system, according to a county audit released Dec. 8.
Between 2001 and 2014, Verizon withheld $466,919 in surcharges beyond what the company, which collects money to support the 911 service, is legally allowed to keep, the county comptroller’s office found.
“We were very disappointed to find that one of our biggest and trusted utilities appears to have skimmed money collected from our residents for payment to the county,” Comptroller George Maragos said in a statement.
Per its agreement with the county, Verizon can keep up to 2 percent of the total monthly 911 surcharges it collects from residents’ phone bills.
But the audit says it sometimes skimmed between 1 and 3 percent beyond that limit.
The total amount could be higher because 27 months of “detailed records” between 2001 and 2005 were not available, the comptroller’s office said.
Nassau County’s police department requested the audit after seeing inconsistencies in Verizon’s billing statements, but the comptroller’s office said it could have spotted the loss sooner if it had done a detailed annual review of Verizon’s payments.
The police department also lacks a written procedure for collecting surcharge revenue, the audit said.
Additionally, audit alleges more than $86,500 in surcharges were not collected from eight communications carriers last year, and most carriers were not giving the county detailed records of the surcharges it collects from customers.
The comptroller’s office recommended the police department work with the county attorney to take legal action against Verizon to get the payments and the missing records.
The audit also said the department should develop a written collection procedure and make sure carriers that collect 911 surcharges comply with county and state law.
In written responses to the audit, the police department said letters outlining the laws for surcharge collection were last sent to carriers 10 years ago. The department is currently reviewing new letters that it will send on a “recurring basis.”
The department will also take any legal steps the county attorney advises to collect the missing payments from Verizon, one response to the audit said.
In a statement, Verizon spokesman John Bonomo said the company “looks forward to reviewing the audit results and working with county officials to resolve any concerns.”
