The old saying, "measure twice and cut once", would have saved taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, according to a new report.
The government accountability office says GSA's poor managements and flawed measurements of more than 30 new courthouses cost taxpayers more than $800 million.
Collectively, the buildings have more than 3.5 million square feet of planned and approved space. It's not just the cost of construction, all that extra room requires annual maintenance and that alone costs an extra $50 million a year.
Phillip Swarts, of the Washington Guardian says the extra space could have been used. "Investigators said, if you took all the extra space you could put together an additional nine courthouses."
The GSA took issue with the findings saying the GAO's measurements are off. The courthouses were built between 2000 and 2010.
