The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "collection of property" ...
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Depreciating Values
Our seven month investigation revealed how a long time property assessor manipulated property values for a handful of wealthy citizens and political supporters, so they would pay less in property taxes. We also showed how some large apartment complexes disappeared from the county tax rolls. Now the state is seeking to collect back taxes from nearly 200 property owners going back three years and the FBI and IRS are investigating.
Tags: property taxes; tax rolls; property
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"The New Tax Man"
This series of stories by the Huffington Post Investigative Fund examines how tough financial times have affected "ordinary" citizens. Reporters revealed how local property tax collectors were "selling the right to collect unpaid taxes to private investors," which could leave homeowners with large extra fees, and the possibility of losing "their home if they are unable to pay."
Tags: taxes; mortgage; interest; unemployment; property tax; Baltimore; Wells Fargo; Bank of America; hedge fund; Fortress Investment Group
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Charter School Investigation
Charter schools were created to bring educational innovation. Instead, some operators used the schools for private gain. Findings of this Philadelphia Inquirer series include high salaries that surpassed what was paid to district superintendents; operators collecting multiple salaries; operators hiring unqualified family members at high salaries; operators creating other entities to do business with the charter so they could collect additional funds; operators acting as charter school landlords and using the money to buy property for other businesses; operators running a charter through a for-profit company that gets all revenue and keeps the surplus.
Tags: charter schools; public education; school reform; charter school law; fraud; Philadelphia Academy; private gain
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Asset Forfeiture Collection
This series examines the use and abuses of criminal and civil asset forfeiture that includes articles on Southern California motor cycle gangs, St. Louis policemen and pimps.
Tags: gangs; Hell's Angels; Mongols Motorcycle Club; property; Metropolitan Police Department
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Documentary stamp tax loophole
"Buyers and sellers of pricey properties structure sales as corporate entity transfers rather than as real estate transfers. This lets them legally avoid the Florida documentar stamp tax, collected at a rate of 70 cents per $100 of property value. My first stroy identified three sales totaling $600 million that avoided $4.2 million in taxes. My second story identified additional sales and also cited properties sold using land trusts, another structure that avoids documentary stamp taxes."
Tags: tax; stamp tax; real estate; commercial; documentary; porperty value
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An Inconvenient truth: Investigative Stories by Andy Meek
This is a collection of investigative pieces reporter Andy Meek did for the Daily News (Memphis, TN) during the last half of 2006. His election story summarized "the inability of local elected officials to prepare properly for the longest ballot in Shelby County history." "Major Hollywood Studio Eyes Memphis" broke the news that Memphis was being considered as a production hub. Also included is a story on property tax overpayments and three stories that provided "exclusive details about a real estate deal that figured prominently in the arrest of two Memphis City Council members."
Tags: elections; film production; property taxes; Diebold electronic voting machines; Tennessee Board of Equalization; reappraisal; Village Roadshow; political corruption scandals; digital billboards; outdoor advertising
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Misuse of Tax Caps
The reporters' investigation focused on the community approval of local tax-rates without realizing that under a loop-hole in a tax cap law passed previously by the Illinois State legislature, public departments who knew about the loop-hole were able to collect a much higher sum of taxes than the constituents thought they were approving.
Tags: tax rates; loop-hole; tax law; financial consultants; school districts; property tax; district budgets; FOIA
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Tax Dodgers
A WTAE-TV investigation found serious problems with Pittsburgh's tax collection procedures as the city grappled with municipal bankruptcy. The two stories found that the city had more than $21 million in delinquent taxes, or half its deficit at the time, and that some of the biggest banks in Pittsburgh, and around the country, were failing to pay their taxes.
Tags: Pittsburgh municipal bankruptcy; Pittsburgh delinquent taxes; Pittsburgh banks; property records; corporation records; Pennsylvania's Right-To-Know (FOI) Law
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The City Property Tax Mess: How You're Overcharged
New York Newsday investigates the practices of New York's Finance Department and finds that at least 100,000 property owners paid more city taxes than necessary. They investigate the city's flawed method of collecting the taxes and find that it is filled with errors and inconsistency.
Tags: property tax; water and sewage; property owners; Finance Department
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"Tax Inequity"; Unfair assessments, outdated rolls plague property tax collections
The East Baton Rouge Parish Assessor's Office was found to be incorrectly appraising residential property taxes for new and current homeowners. Whenever property was sold, the new owners paid taxes on current values, and the former homeowners paid taxes on the outdated value of the home. According to the Louisiana Constitution, the assessor's office is required to update the values every four years. The article showed that more than half of the parish's properties had not been assessed in accordance with the constitution, and as a result, many were "being taxed on values that were well below market rates."