$22.7 Million Building Renovation

Creating jobs and making more energy-efficient buildings is arguably a good use of taxpayer dollars. The problem with the $22.7 million plan to renovate the William J. Green Federal Building and James A. Byrne U.S. Courthouse complex is that it is falling short of both of those goals. For the steep price tag, 53 jobs have been saved. There will also be a projected annual savings of $827,000 on energy costs. Problem is, it will take over 25 years for the costs of the renovations to be recouped.