Agencies spent more on excess properties

The Washington Post reports:

Twenty-four federal agencies collectively spent $1.8 billion operating underutilized or excess properties in fiscal year 2009, up more than half a billion dollars from the year before, according to a recent report by the General Services Administration.

The report, which compares the agencies' real estate holdings from fiscal years 2008 and 2009, shows that the agencies -- including the defense, homeland security, state and interior departments -- collectively increased their holdings by 71 million square feet during that time period, from 3.26 to 3.34 billion, by adding 23,000 properties. In all, the federal government owns about 1.2 million facilities nationwide with a total operating and maintenance budget of about $19 billion, according to the Office of Management and Budget, including an estimated 96 million in the GSA Washington-area portfolio.

To think that some "progressives" worry that health insurance companies "waste" money on advertising, while this is going on. Imagine that.