Feds "vastly overpaid" for Border Patrol employee housing, probe reveals
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) "vastly overpaid" for a new employee housing development in southern Arizona, according to a report released Friday by the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general.
The agency paid an average of $680,000 each for 21 single-family homes to house Border Patrol and CBP field operations agents in Ajo, Arizona, a community in which home prices average just over $86,000, according to the watchdog's report.
"This is a classic example of inadequate planning and management leading to wasteful spending," said Inspector General John Roth. "This project could have been completed at much less cost to the taxpayers."
The report found that the CBP paid a "premium" price for the land on which the houses were built, forking over "about $975,000, or almost triple the amount it may have actually needed to pay, for about 12 acres of land."
The watchdog's report also criticized the inclusion of "nonessential and upgraded items," like quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances, and external garages, in the houses' construction. And it panned CBP for financing a picnic and BBQ area within the complex despite the "sufficient community amenities" already available elsewhere in Ajo.
Perhaps most eye-popping of all, the report criticized the CBP's purchase of 20 mobile homes at a cost of $2.4 million while the 21 permanent houses were under construction.
The watchdog offered several recommendations to prevent similar cost overruns in the future, including the establishment of stricter oversight procedures for big construction projects, and a more stringent review of all proposed housing amenities and upgrades.
In reaction to the report, Customs and Border Protection spokesman Jim Burns issued a statement welcoming the recommendations but taking issue with the calculation of per-unit housing costs, saying the inspector general was "comparing apples to oranges."
"CBP relies on the private housing market to provide housing for its employees, except in a few extreme locations such as Ajo," Burns said, according to the Associated Press. "In Ajo, CBP built urgently needed housing for employees in accordance with the approved CBP design standards and the U.S. government guidance to be used by executive agencies concerning construction of federally owned housing for civilians."