Friday, June 8, 2007

Just another run-of-the-mill example of government waste

I recently received this note from a retired state employee. It's just a small thing, but a classic example of how bureaucrats think when they are not accountable.

"For a very long time, state agencies were able to obtain items free from State Surplus in Lansing. I have seen the ex-Governor's desk available, barely used carpeting from the Capitol building, thousands of file cabinets and chairs, various tools and equipment available to any state agency that needed it. Anything that was not claimed was auctioned off to the general public.

About five years ago, Surplus started charging agencies for each item. This change discouraged agencies from "shopping" at Surplus. From that point on, instead of reusing state owned items, agencies ordered new. Instead of an item being handed off to another agency for continued use, at virtually no cost to the taxpayer, the State would order a new one, at a much higher cost."

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