Waste of the Day: Government-Subsidized Pizza

Topline: Plenty of Americans are willing to pay an extra dollar or two for toppings on their pizza, but $60,000 might be a steep price tag for some fresh herbs.

A pizza parlor got a government subsidy? Really?

Yet that’s exactly how much the Department of Housing and Urban Development handed out to an Iowa pizza parlor for its vertical garden in 2010, adorning the restaurant’s rear entrance with fresh rosemary and basil to use in its cooking. The money would be worth $88,000 today.

That’s according to the “Wastebook” reporting published by the late U.S. Senator Dr. Tom Coburn. For years, these reports shined a white-hot spotlight on federal frauds and taxpayer abuses. 

Coburn, the legendary U.S. Senator from Oklahoma, earned the nickname “Dr. No” by stopping thousands of pork-barrel projects using the Senate rules. Projects that he couldn’t stop, Coburn included in his oversight reports.   

Coburn’s Wastebook 2010 included 100 examples of outrageous spending worth more than $11.5 billion, including the $60,000 spent on pizza herbs.

Key facts: The grant money was sent from the federal government to the City of Cedar Falls, which dispersed funds to Tony’s Trattoria in the neighboring City of Waterloo.

The pizzeria’s grant application stood out because of its “green design” which included permeable concrete near the entrance that absorbed stormwater into the ground instead of sending it to the sewers. The garden was also intended to cover the “rough brick walls” of the building and give it a “warm appeal,” according to the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.

But the place has closed

Most of the other businesses on Main Street already had attractive front entrances, leading the pizzeria to place its new garden in the back of the building. As the restaurant owner told the Courier, “The rear of the building needs to be as exciting and dynamic as the front.”

Search all federal, state and local government salaries and vendor spending with the AI search bot, Benjamin, at OpenTheBooks.com. 

Summary: Tony’s Trattoria’s garden may have impressed passersby, but the government only got its money’s worth for a short time. According to Yelp, the restaurant is closed down. 

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.

This article was originally published by RCI and made available via RealClearWire.