The city of Jacksonville is keeping public records for too long, costing taxpayers big money.
That’s the finding of the local Inspector General’s Office, which says the city has “spent an estimated $873,982 to retain records that were already eligible for destruction.”
“Contributing factors include missing expiration dates, corrupted metadata, inconsistent departmental practices, and gaps stemming from historical transitions between records‑storage vendors,” the OIG announced.
“Interviews with personnel across multiple departments revealed additional deficiencies, including unclear protocols, limited training, and the assumption that commercial vendors were independently handling destruction.”
Secure shredding of the superannuated documents would cost a little more than $146,000 and would pay for itself in 30 months, the OIG says.
More than 58,000 boxes are eligible for destruction, costing the city more than $56,000 per year.
Part of the burden is related to data entry deficiencies. Some materials have incompatible start and end dates, while others have no expiration dates at all.
The problems are most acute in the Tax Collector’s Office, the Supervisor of Elections (SOE), Kids Hope Alliance, Fleet Management and the Office of General Counsel.
In the SOE, a review found materials dating back to 1942, more than a quarter century before consolidation.
The city is also on the hook for storing obsolete materials from divisions of state government, including the 4th Circuit State Attorney and Public Defender.
