State of Minnesota Uses Offices as Storage Space

An Eyewitness News report from KSTP TV in Minneapolis/St. Paul has revealed that the state of Minnesota is using expensive rented offices as storage space for files. The office space is rented for a price that averages out to about nine dollars per square foot of space. In all, the state of Minnesota pays about $21,000 per year to rent the offices that is uses as storage.

An Eyewitness News team found self storage facilities nearby that rent climate-controlled storage space (though without the view of Mears Park that can be seen through the window of the St. Paul offices of the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency) for only $1.50 per square foot. According to Costhelper.com, that amount is fairly standard in the storage industry.

Investigating further, KSTP discovered that the amount paid by the state of Minnesota for storage varies from $0.28 per square foot in Sandstone, to more than $21 per square foot in Rochester. When they asked self storage industry experts, the Eyewitness team was told that $21 per square foot is approximately 14 times the typical cost for the same amount of self storage space.

The Eyewitness News team was alerted to the state's use of storage space by the Minnesota Freedom Foundation, a government watchdog group. The Minnesota Freedom Foundations shot video footage of the offices in February. Freedom Foundation representative Jonathan Blake told the Eyewitness News team that the offices contained "an incredible number of boxes floor to ceiling, not just in the common areas but in four or five offices, I mean it is ridiculous, it is unbelievable waste."

Minnesota, like most states, has several citizens' groups dedicated to reducing government waste. Since the recession began, though, interest in such groups has increased. In addition to the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota, Minnesota's government agencies are regularly scrutinized by Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) and by the Taxpayers League Foundation.

Sources used:

"How much does self storage cost?" Costhelper.com.

McNaney, Bob and Nahm, Becky. "State agency uses prime offices as storage space." Channel 5 Eyewitness News, KSTP.com. May 5, 2010.