THE Commonwealth Office of Transit Authority doesn’t owe IT&E $65,750 in telephone bills, Special Assistant for Public Transportation Alfreda Camacho Maratita said on Thursday, adding that COTA is now working with Finance and IT&E to resolve the “oversight.”
In an email, Maratita said COTA’s monthly recurring charges range between $2,000 and $3,000 for wi-fi services, landlines, cellphones, and GPS tracking system for its transit fleet.
She said as of 4:30 p.m. Thursday, COTA had submitted its current billings to the Department of Finance for payment processing.
Maratita said COTA, which is under the Office of the Governor, is working closely with Finance and IT&E “to resolve this oversight mentioned in yesterday’s media coverage.”
“As the special assistant for public transportation under the Office of the Governor and Lt. Governor, I am respectfully writing to clarify that the amount ($65k) mentioned in yesterday’s news and print media is not what the Commonwealth Office of Transit Authority…owes IT&E for phone charges,” Maratita said.
She also would like to assure the community members who utilize COTA’s transit services that COTA phone lines are in service and should not be “impacted.”
The Department of Finance on Tuesday said department and agency heads have until May 31 to pay the outstanding landline phone bills of their federal program offices.
Finance said more than 50 offices implementing federal programs owe IT&E from $24 to $65,750 in landline phone bills. The total amount is over $222,000.
