The Pentagon is goofing around again with taxpayer dollars. Using funds from its Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) program, the military has subsidized the operation of a 287-room luxury hotel in Disney World. While all MWR programs are supposed to cover their own costs, the hotel has been mismanaged and lost $535,000 after depreciation during its first four months of operation, according to a January 27, 1995 report by the Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General. The U.S. Army Community and Family Support Center, which manages the MWR program, says that problems have been corrected, but it is still too early to tell.

The Center also says that MWR funds are not taxpayer dollars, but the MWR program has required huge taxpayer contributions. According to a 1994 General Accounting Office report the financial picture of the MWR program “is worsening,” requiring a billion dollar subsidy from Congress in 1992. Officially named Shades of Green on Walt Disney World Resort, this 20-acre hotel was opened February 1, 1994. The Shades of Green Resort includes two restaurants with lounges, two swimming pools, a physical fitness room, and a ticket office for local attractions. Even with its multi-million subsidy, the hotel is no bargain for its military guests. About 68 percent of the hotel’s guests could find less expensive rooms at any other Disney hotel.

While troop morale is obviously important, there are plenty of cheaper alternatives to this subsidized “enchanted castle.” A September 1995 report by the Inspector General of the Defense Department recommended that the hotel lease be “terminated,” and bookings and discounts at commercial hotels be negotiated through a centralized DOD reservation system.

—

Space News reported this week that a NASA review team identified $44 million in cost overruns and a two-week schedule delay in the space station program. The two-week delay may cost taxpayers another $100 million, according to NASA’s space station manager. The discovery is discouraging to NASA officials because it comes so early in the new space station program.