Auditor general still fighting state bldg. sale

Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner is still fighting a proposed deal to sell the State Office Building in Pittsburgh to a developer for $4.6 million.Wagner says it will cost taxpayers $55 million for 30-year leases to move about 800 workers into other office space in the city.The Department of General Services says the state will save $14 million by moving the workers to the leased offices.The sale to Millcraft Industries Inc. of Washington, Pa. was announced in March and is expected to close next year. The company wants to move some of the workers into a new office and shopping complex it is building, and says the deal is important to downtown revitalization.But Wagner says Millcraft is paying only about half what the building is worth.

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