(Washington, D.C.) – Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today realized an earlier prediction when it was announced that the price tag for the second phase of construction of a taxpayer-funded Capitol Visitor Center will be 20 percent higher than originally claimed.

Last June, CAGW labeled the Capitol Visitor Center a boondoggle in the making.  Now, Capitol Architect Alan M. Hantman has announced that a $144.2 million contract to Oklahoma-based Manhattan Construction Co. was awarded to complete “Sequence 2” of the project – work involving laying floors, wiring, plumbing and stonework.  Hantman had initially estimated that it would cost $120 million to complete this phase.

“Unfortunately for taxpayers, it seems as though the Capitol Visitor Center is turning out to be another government boondoggle,” CAGW President Tom Schatz said.  “As is frequently the case when the government undertakes such projects, the actual cost is proving to be considerably more than was originally estimated.  It’s terrible that during a time when so many Americans are struggling financially, taxpayers are going to have to pay an even greater price.”

In 1999, Congress appropriated the first $100 million for the effort with an earmark to the Omnibus Appropriations Act, and charged a nonprofit fund with raising an additional $100 million in voluntary donations.  But after two years, the fund could only muster $39 million, causing Congress to saddle taxpayers with an additional $230 million of the $265 million final estimated price tag.

In addition, the projected cost of the 580,000-square-foot, three-level underground complex has continued to skyrocket.  Even before Sequence 2 began, the estimated cost of the project had already climbed up to $373.5 million.

“It is reprehensible that taxpayers are being bled to cover these constantly rising costs,” Schatz concluded.  “Obviously, if the voluntary fund was unable to raise a significant amount of money to finance this effort, there was little public support for it to begin with.  The Capitol Visitor Center has become a classic example of how government projects end up well behind schedule and over cost.”

Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.