“It’s nice we have that kind of money to blow.”

Covington Representative John Schroder was talking about part of the state’s “sweetheart deal” with Saints owner Tom Benson, which is leaving a sour taste in the mouths of House Appropriations Committee members grappling with the massive state budget shortfall. The problem is the guaranteed state rental of office space in the Benson Tower, next to the Superdome.

“We’re paying $25 per square foot when the market rates were at $19 a square foot, so about a six-dollar per square foot difference,” Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera told the committee Monday.

With the state paying rent on nearly 323-thousand square feet of space in the Tower, that’s a lot of extra money. Mark Moses with the Office of Facility Planning noted some of that space has been vacant since the deal with Benson was inked in 2009.

“The 9th floor was built out for the Attorney General’s office. The Attorney General did not occupy the space,” Moses stated. “It is still vacant on the 9th floor.”

Instead, the previous Attorney General has been renting other office space in New Orleans. Appropriations chairman Cameron Henry was stunned.

“So let me get this straight: we’re paying for empty space while the Attorney General is renting space somewhere else?” Henry asked.

Moses said yes, and that’s costly, too.

“The Attorney General commercial lease is about $340-thousand a year. The space in Benson Tower on the 9th floor is approaching a half million.”

There was testimony that the new Attorney General, Jeff Landry, is amenable to moving his New Orleans operations into the Benson Tower, and is negotiating with the Division of Administration to do so. While that would relieve the state from paying the leases on those additional offices, it still doesn't solve the concerns of paying an extra $6 per square foot for the 322,977 square feet in the Benson Tower, as required by the contract package signed in 2009.

Schroder asked if there’s a solution: “Where’s the state stand as far as renegotiating the lease, or did we sign our life away there?”

But as all this is part of the deal to keep the Saints here through 2025, changing the terms of the contract could cost the state its NFL--and NBA--teams.