345 excess federal buildings in NM

ALBUQUERQUE, NM (KRQE) - New Mexico ranks as the ninth state in the union for its high number of unnecessary federal buildings.

This week, the White House released a list of over 12,000 federal buildings across the country that have been defined as excessive; 345 are in New Mexico.

“All governments tend to accumulate assets. They use them for a while, then priorities change,” said Paul Gessing with the Rio Grande Foundation, a conservative think tank. “The federal government has a lot of unused assets, both buildings and lands, that need to get off the books.”

President Barack Obama said he’s sending legislation to Capitol Hill that would give Congress the authority to tear down those buildings or keep them.

The government says $15 billion could be saved by eliminating many of the excess buildings.

Representatives from the Santa Fe National Forest, which has dozens of buildings on the list, say many are in bad condition, expensive to maintain, aren’t needed any more or are being replaced. Those buildings include sheds, houses, barns and one ranger office.

But the list of excess federal buildings in New Mexico poses a problem to the president’s plan because many are on federally protected land.

“Selling off buildings sounds like a great idea, but if the building is at the Sandia Labs or on an Air Force base or Los Alamos, very few alternatives are available for that property,” Gessing said.

Los Alamos labs told News 13, over the past few years the lab has eliminated over one million square feet. Just a few months ago, the 1955 administration building was torn down taking over 300,000 square feet off the books.

To see the list of New Mexico’s excess buildings click here .