Mississippi GOP gov upgraded governor’s mansion using over $2 million in taxpayer dollars: report

10 September 2023

Mississippi GOP governor slammed for imposing COVID restrictions on residents while holding Christmas parties

Mississippi Republican Governor Tate Reeves has put over "$2.4 million in taxpayer dollars into renovations and upkeep" of the governor's mansion since his election in 2019, The Daily Beast exclusively reports.

According to public records that the Beast recently obtained, while "the largest single line item in the records was the nearly $600,000 Reeves has spent on 'Renovation to Staff area/asbestos abatement' and security, "state records show taxpayers have footed the bill for more than $100,000 in family living space renovations—as well as $20,000 in garden work on the governor’s mansion.

The news outlet reports:

The records show tax money spent on luxuries like a 'meditation garden' and the mansion's limonaia—an architectural feature specifically designed for lemon trees. A Facebook photo shows Reeves and his wife cutting the ribbon at the governor's mansion limonaia in April 2022. The next month, the administration spent around $1,500 on consultations and sketches related to a “Meditation Garden plan,” in addition to a total of $20,000 on landscape architecture consulting in 2021 and 2022, state records show.

The limonaia then saw $1,950 in irrigation system upgrades in September 2022, with another $250 drip irrigation system added this March at the request of Ann Beard, chief of staff to first lady Ellee Reeves. The meditation garden also got automatic irrigation and new lighting this March, at costs of $2,950 and $1,640, respectively.

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Additionally, the news outlet reports "while some of Reeves' improvements—such as the asbestos mitigation—appear urgent or even past due, not all of the $2.4 million in taxpayer costs fit that description. Reeves appears to have used about $120,000 in state funds to renovate the mansion's family living quarters, across three projects, state records show."

The Beast also notes:

In response to The Daily Beast's comment request, Reeves' deputy chief of staff Cory Custer provided a 225-word statement, claiming that the governor's mansion garden is 'comparable to the White House grounds' and citing the capital city of Jackson's top nationwide murder rate as a reason for heightened security expenses. (The White House fields hundreds of thousands of visitors per year.)

The Beast notes, "The spending records come as Reeves faces an election that could cast him out of that new home four years after he set down stakes."

The Daily Beast's report available at this link (subscription required).

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