COLUMBIA, SC (WCBD) – Governor Nikki Haley revealed South Carolina is wasting millions of your tax dollars on state owned property. The new report found the state owns nearly 8,000 buildings, many of which are crumbling and full of wasted space.
“Everything about this screams for improvement,” the Governor said Wednesday at a press conference to release the assessment findings.
The findings come from a two year audit of state owned property. The state owns 2,500 parcels of land totaling 500,000 acres and 7,800 buildings. The assessment determined there are eight ready for immediate sale, which would amass five million dollars and save millions more in cost avoidance.
“We just don’t need to be in the real estate business,” Gov. Haley said.
The $1.4 million state-wide assessment, looked at space utilization at 222 locations and inspected 150 buildings for maintenance needs. To reduce wasted office space, Gov. Haley will consider private- public partnerships. She wants to reduce state owned property by 25 percent.
“We’ve got a lot of money pits in South Carolina,” she explained. “Money pits our tax payers don’t need to spend money on.”
The plan is to sell the first round of properties and use that money to update current buildings or aggressively market others to sell.
