$7M in Tax Dollars Spent on Vacant Building!?
Seven million dollars for an empty building? Are taxpayers paying for a giant waste of space? That's the question some people are asking about one building in NYC.
Since 2006, New York City, which has the largest pension system in NY, has spent a total of $7 million in tax payer money on an unfinished and unused backup headquarters … and the taxpayers are paying for it. In the next five years, they will have spent about $21 million in rent costs alone, not including the much needed renovations for this building.
Is the pension system in New York running on empty? Public pension expert Jonathan Trichter said we shouldn’t be surprised that we are spending that much money on a building that isn’t being used, and he thinks the board should be held responsible.
Trichter broke down how much they are spending. “This backup office is rented out at $500,000 or so a year. In addition to that, they’re spending about $4-or-$4.5 million on their main office. So, if you aggregate that over five years, you’re talking about a significant amount of money when it comes to their administrative expenses per year, which is about $50 million.”
The New York City Employees Retirement System (NYCERS) attorney has reportedly defended the project, saying the backup space is needed because of two fires and two floods that occurred at the headquarters.
Hear what Jonathan Trichter had to say:
