Columbus is in the crosshairs of Department of Government Efficiency spending cuts, with impacts stretching from tax services to infrastructure upgrades.
Led by billionaire Elon Musk, DOGE estimates its total cuts to contracts, grants and leases has cut spending by over $100 billion. While that number is widely contested by multiple sources, the website’s tally also breaks down the source of the savings, including an item situated in Columbus – the city’s Internal Revenue Service office.
While the entry is light on specifics, there’s only one public IRS office in the city, a taxpayer assistance office at 2209 Fifth St. N. with roughly 2,300 square feet of space.
Listed under the real estate section of DOGE’s website, the agency says the building’s lease was worth $38,973, though it also says the cancellation entry’s “total savings” amount to $6,495 without detailing what exactly that means. The Associated Press reports that discrepancy can reflect contract money already obligated or spent, and the amount would be in line with the roughly 13% remaining time of the building’s five-year lease, which expires in October 2025.
Taxpayer assistance offices offer appointments for a range of IRS services, with Columbus’ helping constituents with tax adjustments, making payments, questions about forms, immigrant departure permits, income tax applications, heavy vehicle use taxes, requests for assistance from a taxpayer advocate, and general “tax law questions” from January to mid-April, according to a sign on the door of the building.
The Fifth Street North office is also the closest taxpayer assistance office for residents of the Golden Triangle, with the next closest similar office in Tupelo.
Residents hoping to make use of those services, however, aren’t out of luck quite yet. The IRS’ help and appointment line confirmed to The Dispatch that appointments are still being offered through at least March and April, meaning the office will remain open through the national tax deadline on April 15.
A search on the Inventory of Owned and Leased Property, a database maintained by the General Services Administration, indicates the lease was signed Oct. 31, 2020. Tax records suggest the property is owned by ZYW properties, whose manager Zun-Ying Woo did not respond to a request for comment.
The IRS did not respond to a request for clarification on the lease by press time, and DOGE does not offer public contact methods.
The only other canceled lease in the greater Golden Triangle area listed on the DOGE website is a U.S. Forest Service office in Ackerman. Total savings from that closing were listed as $83,484.
Multiple other offices throughout the state are listed on the DOGE website.
Federal funding freeze affects flights
Federal spending cuts will be felt by travelers in the Columbus-Lowndes municipal airport as well, literally. A Department of Energy grant meant to replace the terminal building’s windows and doors was frozen in February as part of an effort to abolish diversity, equity and inclusion.
Susan Wilder, Columbus’ grant writer and administrator who helped apply for the funds, told The Dispatch on Thursday that Lowndes County had applied for the $77,090 grant, officially titled the Energy Efficiency And Conservation Block Grant.
That application was approved in December. Wilder and others involved in the grant, however, were sent another letter on Jan. 27 by Sara Wilson, the DOE’s acting head of contracting activity, energy efficiency and renewable energy.
“The president has issued 43 executive orders, including one entitled Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,” it reads. “DOE is moving aggressively to implement this by suspending DEI programs, community benefit plans and Justice40 activities in any loans, loan guarantees, grants, cost sharing agreements, contracts, contract awards, or any other source of DOE funding.”
Justice40 is a policy instructing federal agencies to direct 40% of funding benefits toward disadvantaged communities.
The executive order instructed recipients to cease all activities and stop incurring costs associated with DEI and CPBs, which apparently included the airport grant. Costs incurred would not be reimbursed, and awards would be modified at a later date to comply with the executive order.
Airport manager Dan Duston said that while the general aviation airport hadn’t planned to use the grant money until the weather warmed up a bit, as time goes on that weather window narrows. More importantly the airport’s budget is roughly $100,000 per year, with much of that taken up by overhead. Finding a replacement for almost $80,000 isn’t easy.
“We rely heavily on grant funding for anything added on or future projects, we rely heavily on grant funding for it,” he said. “… The windows and doors of our terminal building are mostly original from 1952, and they’re very inefficient. It’s very difficult to keep the building cool in the summertime and heated in the winter. … If it’s on pause that’s one thing, if it’s taken away completely that’s another. It was a much-needed project.”
Wilder said Columbus hasn’t gotten any indication that its $20 million Community Change Grant application from the Environmental Protection Agency has been paused or canceled.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
