The $800,000 the General Services Administration blew in Vegas turns out to be a pittance compared to what the agency spends annually on buildings the government doesn’t use.
A report by the Washington Examiner finds that GSA pays $13 million in rent annually for office space nationwide that the agency says was occupied less than one percent last year. This money covered the lease on 189 different properties, all of which seem not to have been used between last September and this March.
The agency spent an addition $600 million on 2,000 rental buildings which were occupied less than ten percent over the same time period. Some buildings leased by the GSA seem even more wasteful. One large building in Florida, for which the government paid $1 million a year, showed just 0.1% occupation.
The Examiner does note that GSA’s is attempting to sell off space that is not being used (or underutilized). Only 3% of GSA’s leaded space was listed as vacant.
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