Texas Gov. Living High on the Hog in Rented Mansion

Rick Perry kicking it in 7-bathroom home
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted May 17, 2010 12:22 PM CDT
Texas Gov. Living High on the Hog in Rented Mansion
A vehicle enters the community where Texas Gov. Rick Perry has lived since the historic Texas governor's mansion was damages by arson.   (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Pot, meet kettle? Texas Gov. Rick Perry spends his days requesting that state agencies slash 5% from the budgets, and he spends his nights in a sprawling rented mansion that has cost taxpayers $600,000 over the last two years. Fat-cat highlights, compliments of records obtained by the AP:

  • The 6,386-square-foot home boasts five bedrooms, seven bathrooms, and three (three?) dining rooms
  • It costs $10,000-plus a month in rent, utilities, and maintenance

  • It's unclear if that monthly sum included the $1,000 forked over for an "emergency repair" of his filtered ice machine
  • Maintaining the heated pool has cost $8,400 to date
  • Other state-bought items: $1,000 window coverings from Neiman Marcus and a $700 clothes rack
  • He's living there while the Texas governor's mansion undergoes repairs, which will take two more years: Then he'll be forced to move back into the 9,900-square-foot space...of which only 2,750 square feet is dedicated to the governor's residence
(More Rick Perry stories.)

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