Adjust the old expression for inflation: "$1.5 million here, $1.5 million there, you're talking about real money."

FEMA wasted about $3 million of taxpayer money through poor preparation and management of the New Jersey field office it used to respond to superstorm Sandy, an audit released by the Homeland Security Department's inspector general Monday said.

About half of that was by picking a Lincroft site at the last minute, the report said. The General Services Administration only had time to come up with three potential locations — and even a week after the storm, FEMA didn't have a suitable enough location, so it spent half a million dollars on a lease for the Lincroft site and another $1 million on rehabilitation.

FEMA had enough time with early forecasts to better prepare and coordinate with the GSA, but missed that chance, according to the report.

And FEMA didn't downsize its offices as its disaster staffing needs shrank, according to the report. That's estimated to have cost another $1.5 million.

But FEMA itself has agreed to impliment the changes suggested in the report: To work with the GSA to pick out a location as soon as a major weather event is forecast, and to work out procedures for whittling down disaster response staff as it becomes practical.

Read the full report below:

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