Nov 3, 2009 4:31 pm US/Pacific
On The Money: The Sinkhole?
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ―
A high-rise office building in downtown Sacramento is causing headaches for state workers and taxpayers alike. Here is out update on a structure that's siphoning off millions of dollars in repairs.
Tax advocates are putting more pressure now on the state to get rid of this office building.
"They've had water leakage. They've had bat problems. They've had mold. They've had windows falling out. This building is not a good use of taxpayer funds," says Tereasa Casazza, California Taxpayers Association.
We showed you last August the many problems plaguing the Board of Equalization in downtown Sacramento, with what we were told was a $10 million price tag for infrastructure improvements. The improvements first began in 2006 and won't be completed until 2014. Now, it turns out, the cost the fix this place will be much more.
"It looks like it's going to be more than $65 million to repair this building," says Anita Gore, Board of Equalization.
And when torrential rains and gale force winds whipped through Sacramento last month, the Board of Equalization building suffered more damage.
"Winds and rain to the degree it came down a couple of weeks ago did cause a few leaks throughout the building. Those are being addressed," explains Gore.
The Board of Equalization is requesting another $2.5 to pay for a rent increase from the landlord, which in this case is the Department of General Services.
"Why should the state spend money and ask for a rent increase on a building that is a pit, a sinkhole of taxpayer funds?" says Casazza.
The California Taxpayers Association wants the state to sell the building, and the Department of General Services has actually considered it. But in today's falling real estate market, they say taxpayers will lose money if they sell the building.
"Today with the work we've done, if we were to stop that work we'd probably end up owing approximately $30 million on that building," says Eric Lamoureux of the Department of General Services.
That's because the state owes millions of dollars in loan payments, so the best way to protect taxpayers, officials say, is to continue making repairs now so California can make money in the future by opting to sell the building when real estate values improve.
But taxpayer groups worry the $65 million estimate for repairs could very well go higher.
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