The state's purchase in 2007 of a building in Springfield shows what's wrong with state government in Illinois.

In 2007, the state of Illinois announced the $13.2-million purchase of the former Franklin Life Insurance building in Springfield and bragged that it intended to use the 375,000-square-foot building to house as many as 1,500 state employees.

The building's purchase was intended to save the state money by moving employees from rented space into a building the state owned.

Since then, roughly 500 Illinois State Police employees have moved into the compound, which features three connected buildings. But that's all.

Why? An Illinois State Police spokesman said the department has security concerns about allowing employees from other state agencies onto the premises.

State officials concede the property is being underused and that savings from moving employees from leased facilities into the Franklin building have not been realized. But other than discussing the shortcomings involved in the building's purchase, not much seems to be happening in terms of addressing the situation.

So we have another case of taxpayer dollars being thrown down a rat hole.

The state police may have legitimate security concerns, although it's hard to understand how they could not be safely addressed given the availability of three separate buildings.

But here's the bigger question. Why wasn't this issue addressed before the state bought the building? Don't the people in state government who buy buildings talk to the people in state government who move into the buildings the state buys?

With the state's serious money woes, one would think that the responsible parties would consider every angle before they spend $13 million-plus. But, apparently, one would be wrong.

Given the state's multibillion-dollar budget and debt, wasting $13 million isn't going to make a huge difference. But this kind of expenditure does reflect a real disdain for taxpayers' dollars that helped create the financial crisis Illinois faces.

Taxpayer dollars are a precious resource that ought to be carefully guarded and spent wisely, and in some states they are. But unfortunately, not in Illinois.