By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
Customs and Border Protection overspent when it built houses for Border Patrol agents in Arizona, an inspector general’s report has found.
The Associated Press reports that CBP spent nearly $700,000 per house in a town where the average home price is less than $90,000.
The investigating found that CBP spent about $17 million on land, 21 houses and 20 mobile homes. The agency overspent by about $4.6 million, the AP wrote.
The average house was $680,000, while the average mobile home cost $118,000 .
Construction was finished in December 2012 as a way to alleviate housing shortages for Border Patrol agents.
“CBP did not effectively plan and manage employee housing in Ajo, Arizona, and made decisions that resulted in additional costs to the federal government,” the report states.
While the CBP agreed with the recommendations, it denied wrongdoing.
“CBP relies on the private housing market to provide housing for its employees, except in a few extreme locations such as Ajo,” the agency said in a statement released by spokesman Jim Burns. “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.”
