Nov 23, 2009 11:26 pm US/Eastern
State Spends Millions On Empty Parking Spaces
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
An I-Team investigation found that millions of taxpayer dollars are being wasted not on excess salaries or over-budget projects, but on empty parking spaces.
Chief Correspondent Joe Shortsleeve found that the state spends almost $3 million on leasing spaces that are not only a questionable perk but actually often empty.
EMPTY PARKING GARAGES
Hold onto your wallet as you step out onto the top floor of a "T" parking garage in Medford. It is a garage that is costing taxpayers millions.
Why?
The state is paying for the spaces even though they're are often empty. But it is not only Medford.
You'll also find empty parking spaces in the Government Center garage in downtown Boston. In fact, half of the spaces leased by another state agency for top dollar sit vacant.
WHY ARE THEY EMPTY?
For the past three years, The Department of Mental Health has been paying $210,000 for 50 spaces in the Government Center garage.
When the I-Team first contacted the department, we were told the spaces were for 24-hour care-givers at a nearby shelter. We then found out that only one space is used by a doctor and the other 24 by administrators including a director of multicultural affairs and several lawyers.
25 of the 50 leased spaces sit empty. They cost more than $100,000.
Lester Bloomberg is the attorney for the Department of Mental Health. He says due to some reorganization, the spaces ended up empty.
Chief Correspondent Joe Shortsleeve spoke with him recently.
Blumberg said that, "in these financial times every dollar is important and all of our spending is under review."
Across town at the Pine Street Inn, spending is also under review. It is a homeless shelter slammed by state budget cuts. However, just the idea of spending tens of thousands of dollars on parking spaces, never mind empty ones, is hard to comprehend.
Lyndia Downie is the executive director. She says, "It is not cold yet and all of our beds are full and two nights ago we had 40 men sleeping on the floor."
HOW MUCH ARE TAYPAYERS PAYING?
The I-Team found taxpayers paying for parking spaces all over the state. More than $3 million spent from Springfield and Pittsfield -- all the way to Dorchester and downtown Boston.
And then there's the garage in Medford.
For more than a decade, the state highway department has paid more than $30 million to lease 950 spaces.
The I-Team's undercover camera visited the garage on three recent occasions during the work week. And every time the garage was nearly empty.
Frank Tramontozzi is the chief engineer for the state highway department. Shortsleeve asked if "this contract was a good deal for taxpayers?"
Tramontozzi responded, "The current terms are not something that we are happy with."
WHY?
So why is the state spending nearly $3 million each year to underwrite and lease all these empty parking spaces in Medford?
The answer has to do with clean air.
You see, the garage is connected to the Wellington MBTA station.
To cut down on pollution, in 1995 Massachusetts signed an iron-clad 15-year deal leasing four floors. The idea: encourage commuters to use the "T" by offering affordable parking rates.
The problem, while the state has paid and paid and paid, year after year after year, the majority of the spaces sit empty.
The I-Team obtained a copy of the lease. The rent each year: $2.7 million. The contract expires in August, but until then the state will continue to lose $5,000 each and every day subsidizing a half empty facility.
Shortsleeve suggested to Tramontozzi, "that state officials don't like the terms and probably won't renew this contract, correct?"
Tramontozzi answered, "I think that is a fair assessment. We don't like the terms and we probably won't renew the contract."
In the contract, Shortsleeve was told there were no contractual escape clauses and no periodic reviews. Needless to say transportation officials today are doing their best to distance themselves from this agreement.
In a related item, Dorchester District Court spends almost $68,000 each year to lease 90 spaces behind a church on Washington Street. The strange thing is, the lot is accessible to anyone, and there are no assigned spaces and no security. A spokesperson told me the court system is actively reviewing all of the leases.
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