Hang it up, Oregon

The news that Oregon state government spent $450,000 more than it should have in one year might not, of itself, raise anyone’s hackles.

After all, the state spends several billion dollars each year.

Last week the Secretary of State’s office released the results of an audit that concluded various state agencies could have saved $450,000 by using cell phones more prudently.

Auditors reviewed bills from about 8,000 phones used between April 2007 and March 2008. That number — 8,000 — caught our eye.

We understand that cell phones are ubiquitous and, to many people, indispensable.

But do 8,000 state employees truly need a taxpayer-supplied cell phone to do their work?

And 8,000 isn’t even the true figure.

Verizon, one of three large cell service suppliers the state contracts with, refused to comply with the audit while it was being conducted.

Among the auditors’ findings:

• The state could have saved at least $182,000 by putting cheaper service plans on rarely used phones

• The state spent $272,000 on charges for exceeding the monthly allotment of minutes

Or, to put it more succinctly, the state wasted money both on cell phones that were used a little, and on cell phones that were used a lot.

Despite the relatively small scale of the cell phone waste as compared with the whole of the state budget, we’re going to remember this audit the next time an Oregon official complains that we taxpayers aren’t pulling our weight.