Federal agencies can't justify overspending

This federal government boondoggle falls into the “you would never do this with your own money” category.

If you’ve ever been to former copper mining town Ajo, Arizona, population 3,300, you know it’s not a high-dollar real estate market. In fact, the average price of a home in the hamlet about 40 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border is $86,500.

However, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been spending almost $700,000 a pop for two- and three-bedroom houses in Ajo — and $118,000 for mobile homes — to be used by Border Patrol agents and their families.

In 2008, the Border Patrol doubled in size and needed housing for two nearby Border Patrol stations. Total tab for we, the taxpayers, came to $17 million — about $4.6 million more than it should have been, according to a Department of Homeland Security report.

“CBP did not effectively plan and manage employee housing in Ajo, Ariz., and made decisions that resulted in additional costs to the federal government,” the report states.

And which agency managed this wasteful endeavor? You guessed it. The perennially incompetent General Services Administration. The very same agency that spent lavishly to the tune of $823,000 on entertainment, food and travel for a 2010 conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In 2011, the GSA also handed out massive bonuses like they were after-dinner mints. According to the Homeland Security report, Customs and Border Protection did not “adequately justify” hiring the GSA to manage the project and overpaid it by about $3 million in unspent funds.

Customs and Border Protection also increased funding for the project seven times without providing reasons or explaining how the money was spent.

While the Border Patrol certainly can justify the need for housing during an expansion of duties, no federal agency can justify spending nearly seven times more for housing than local costs. Once again, the government demonstrates how easy it is to spend someone else’s money.

Clearly, these agencies did not learn from past scandals. Now, the agencies are moving this overpriced dog and pony show to Lukeville, Arizona, an unincorporated port of entry community at the border. Population 23.

— Albuquerque Journal