The Beacon Center of Tennessee’s annual “Pork Report,” exposes government waste, fraud, and abuse. While the “Pork Report” is a fun and creative outlet for Beacon’s team to expose the top 25 most ridiculous instances of government spending in the past year, it calls for state and local governments to cut the waste from their budgets. After all, it is state and local taxpayers who are funding all the “pork” found in the report.

The 2019 “Pork of the Year” went to the Richard Siegel Soccer Complex in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. While Murfreesboro is losing nearly $150,000 per year on the complex, the city decided to double down by adding to the complex and upgrading the lights—to the tune of $14.5 million. Even with the city’s promise to turn the complex’s deficit into a $115,000-per year profit—which definitely won’t happen—it would take 127 years to pay off that debt. Each year, the “Pork Report” gets tremendous statewide media attention, and this year was no different. Television outlets, radio stations, and newspapers across the state featured the report and asked Beacon’s experts to weigh in on how this year’s report was different from previous years. Media also looked to Beacon for solutions to remedy the waste, fraud, and abuse in Tennessee.