WASHINGTON — The White House has identified 12,218 properties the federal government no longer needs, including a slew of buildings, warehouses and parking structures in Missouri.
The 166 pieces of federal property in Missouri are scattered throughout the state, with many of them located within the Mark Twain National Forest.
The list also includes two buildings in Springfield owned by the Federal Aviation Administration and about two dozen assets in Kansas City owned by the Navy.
“Like an episode of ‘Hoarders,’ our government has amassed a large amount of buildings and structures that no one uses,” said Rep. Billy Long, a Springfield Republican who supports government efforts to rid itself of excess property.
The proposal by President Barack Obama would create an independent commission — modeled after the military’s Base Realignment and Closure Commission, established in 1988 — to identify civilian federal properties that could be closed, sold or demolished. The goal would be to reach $15 billion in savings in three years.
Bill would force sale
Long and Rep. Vicky Hartzler, a Republican from Harrisonville, are co-sponsors of legislation that predates Obama’s plan and seeks to save taxpayers even more money.
Their bill, spearheaded by Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, would force the sale of surplus federal property to raise $19 billion, with 20 percent going back to agency budgets and the rest to deficit reduction.
“By selling these buildings and structures that are vacant or have fallen into disrepair, an estimated $19 billion will be saved that will be applied to debt reduction,” Long said. “Families across southwest Missouri are having to cut costs, and our government is no different.”
Said Chaffetz: “The government can no longer foot the bill for vacant buildings and special interest projects. Government property that serves no public good should be immediately returned to private ownership.”
Amber Marchand, a spokeswoman for Sen. Roy Blunt, said the Springfield Republican also “supports the sale of excess federal property in a reasonable manner, and he supports using those proceeds to help pay down the debt.”
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., agrees as well. She is backing both the president’s proposal to create a commission to deal with the excess federal property and two bills in the Senate that also seek to deal with the problem.
“The federal government spends millions of dollars every year maintaining federal property that is vacant or unusable,” McCaskill said. “With the size of the budget deficit, we absolutely cannot afford this and I hope we can find a solution to sell off this excess property in a timely and responsible manner.”
Road for sale
One of the structures in Springfield is described as a 128-square-foot navigation and traffic aid that is listed as having already been disposed of. It’s unclear if the structure was sold or demolished and no other information was available due to security issues.
The other Springfield structure is listed as being in the process of being disposed.
Throughout Missouri, there are 96 assets listed as in the process of being disposed, 27 that have already been disposed, 22 scheduled for demolition, 11 that have been transferred to another agency or repurposed, nine with no plans to dispose and one listed as for sale.
The one listed for sale? It’s a 2-mile long road in Shannon County owned by the National Park Service.
Other excess property near Springfield includes:
» Three buildings in Ava that cover a combined 3,661 square feet of space and are part of the Mark Twain National Forest. Two are described as “excess office space.” All three are listed as being in the process of being disposed.
» Six buildings, including a warehouse, in Cassville that cover a combined 7,857 square feet of space and are part of the Mark Twain National Forest. All are listed as being in the process of being disposed.
» Two structures in Osage Beach owned by the FAA that are used for navigation and traffic aids. Both are listed as being in the process of being disposed of.
» Half an acre of land in Point Lookout and 38 acres of land in Joplin, both FAA assets that are listed as having already being disposed of.
Step in transparency
Forest Service spokesman Joe Walsh pointed out, however, that excess buildings or other structures on national park or forest land, such as the Mark Twain National Forest, doesn’t mean the government will be selling the protected land.
In most cases, it means unused structures would be demolished, which would have an upfront cost but save the government money on maintenance fees in the long run.
Jeff Zients, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, said the administration released this month the full list of surplus property for the first time, in hopes that citizens can help identify other cost-saving measures.
“It’s an important step in transparency,” he said.
The release comes after President Obama mentioned the initiative during his State of the Union speech: “We’re selling acres of federal office space that hasn’t been used in years, and we will cut through red tape to get rid of more. But we need to think bigger.”