Government Rent Spending: Old News or Ongoing Problem?
Prime Minister John Brice帽o says there鈥檚 nothing surprising about the government spending over two million dollars a year on office rentals. According to him, this isn鈥檛 a new issue, and his administration is already working on solutions. But here鈥檚 the thing: while the PM points to plans like a new judiciary center in Lake Independence and a future government office campus, there鈥檚 still no clear timeline for when these projects will actually break ground. Brice帽o also highlighted that the government pays twenty-two thousand dollars a month to rent just one building, money he admits could easily cover a mortgage instead. So, if the problem is well known and the cost is so high, why is progress so slow?
Prime Minister John Brice帽o
鈥淲e are working on that. We are starting to work on our building, a judiciary center right here on Lake Independence Boulevard, along with Social Security. And we are getting some investments from other bond holders to build a huge campus to be able to put something there. So, we are working on that. We want to get partner with the private sector or ourselves. Look at this place right here with 5Cs, the government pays for that. We pay twenty-two thousand dollars rent a month. That can pay a mortgage. So we are working on that. You are not coming with nothing new. When we look and I don鈥檛 have the exact number, but when you see where we were in 2020 and where we are today and how much more rentals we have been getting, it is not much.鈥
Is the government doing enough to cut wasteful spending, or just talking about it? And how long should taxpayers wait for real change?