AT $20 MILLION ANNUALLY, STATE PHONE BILLS REACH OUT AND TOUCH TAXPAYERS (LAST OF TWO PARTS)

JEFFERSON CITY -- Missouri's state agencies and elected officials run up phone bills totaling more than $20 million every year.

The annual telecommunications report from the Office of Administration for each department shows some agencies make far greater use of telephones, WATS lines, 800 numbers and data transmission than others. Missouri's largest funded department, Social Services, has an annual telecommunications bill of $2.9 million with $702,761 being spent to transmit data and client information between offices.

Four other departments have annual communications bills topping $1 million each year, including Mental Health, Revenue, Labor and Industrial Relations, and Public Safety.

Of the 15 departments, Higher Education has the smallest phone bill, totaling only $46,320 in the last complete fiscal period.

Among the six statewide elected officials, the office of attorney general makes far greater use of telecommunications than the others, with the report showing an annual bill of $218,031, of which $81,914 was spent for long-distance calls. The next highest user of telephones is the office of the secretary of state, with an annual expenditure of $99,182, of which $41,559 was spent for long-distance service.

The governor's office had a phone bill of $44,646, while the office of lieutenant governor spent only $6,100 for all phone services in a 12-month period. Expenditures by other statewide offices: treasurer, $33,374, and auditor, $30,481.

In the legislative branch, phone use is heavy, with the House of Representatives having an annual phone bill of $248,781, while the Senate has charges totaling $102,806. Per member breakdown of the total expenditures, shows $3,023 for each of the 34 members of the Senate and $1,526 for each of the 163-member House of Representatives. Additional charges were made against the General Assembly as a whole and for legislative staff members and commissions.

For the judicial branch, the state's highest court ran up $67,429 in telecommunications charges for a 12-month period, which would come to $9,632 for each of the seven members of the supreme court. More than one-third of the court's expenses went for phone transmissions between courts within Missouri. In addition, the office of the state court administrator had an annual phone bill of $32,238, while the state public defender's office had phone bills totaling $239,525.

The University of Missouri system makes its own telecommunications arrangements, except for dedicated data service handled by the Office of Administration. Regional universities and other state-funded colleges, including community colleges, spent $4,399,268 on phone service, which includes $502,839 for the Highway Patrol's law enforcement network.