The federal government has facilities in almost a half-million buildings around the world. Managing this space is not an easy task. But, as a recent General Accountability Office (GAO) report shows, improvements could be made which would save us billlions of dollars. For example, DOD alone estimates that it spends $3 - $4 billion annually maintaining facilities it no longer needs. The former main post office in Chicago has been lying idle since 1997 at a cost of $2,000,000 annually. The VA in 2003 had 577 vacant and underutilized properties. The Mendel Rivers Federal Building in Charleston, SC has been vacant since 1999.
The government does have unique problems in disposing of some of these properties. For example, GSA cannot enter into private-piblic partnerships to redevelop property. Limited funds often force the leasing rather than purchasing of property, which is cheaper in the long run.
But, again, it is our money that is not being spent wisely. As has been said before, the couple of billion here plus the couple of billion there can soon add up to a tidy sum.
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