Politicians are going to get a very expensive makeover to their office building, at a price WAY higher than similar projects. The State Office Building on the Capitol grounds is where members of the Minnesota House have their office. The building also hosts the Secretary of State's administrative office and has committee rooms. But politicians say it's outdated and want taxpayers to renovate it for them.

The renovation is coming at a cost of $498 Million with an additional $200 Million or more in private financing (interest) for the project. Which means this building is going to cost taxpayers a whopping $700 Million.

We spoke to an expert in building construction and renovations and found out that new construction on a government building is about $591 per square foot. The State Office Building is 290,136 sqft currently, and there will be an additional 166,000 sq ft added in the project. That means new construction of a building would be $270 Million - a figure less than half of what's being done.

With roughly 2.5 million taxpayers in Minnesota, the cost for politicians' new luxury office building is $280 per taxpayer. And there's only 134 members in the Minnesota House, so that means it costs taxpayers more than $5 million to house one legislator.

All of this comes at a time where prices are skyrocketing and hurting families due to inflation. We're also seeing property taxes rise significantly in the twin cities area. Plus, Democrats just raised taxes on gas, license tabs, sales and deliveries. 

We have to ask...with this project being so costly and being privately financed, is this some sort of scam against Minnesotans? How could this project cost us this much money?!

[PAID ADVERTISEMENT]