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 "taxation" ...
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"Fighting New Jersey's Tax Crush"
The Abury Park Press takes an in-depth look at the tax system in New Jersey. Based on empirical evidence, reporters found New Jersey's system to have the highest costs in the nation due to property taxes being based on the "what the town says" is the worth of your house. Low- and middle-income homes are paying more than the wealthy, and many businesses are being forced to close or move out of the state due to tax increases.
Tags: Chris Christie; Ortley Beach; Ocean County Board of Taxation; Monmouth County; Lacey Tax Collector; Keyport; Chris Daggett; Jon S. Corzine; New Jersey State League of Municipalities
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Down the Hole
The Chicago Reporter examines the Illinois school system and its funding, dropouts and their effect on the economy and the connection between funding and results. The investigation found that the 2005 range in expenditure per student was $4,000 to $28,000 and poor communities and farms were taxed at higher rates then their wealthier counterparts. School officials asserted that there is a clear connection between funding and quality of student produced, and an analysis by the newspaper bore this out. But a second analysis did not link funding to quality of student.
Tags: Schools; school funding; droput rate; high school dropouts; taxation; tax rates
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Free Housing
This investigation revealed that local governments in the Kansas City area were allowing public employees -- and in some cases, their friends -- to live in government-owned housing rent-free. In one instance, this arrangement was referred to as a perk that should have been subject to taxation, but wasn't declared to the IRS.
Tags: Kansas City; housing; public employees; city government; county government; Parks and Recreation; job perks; FOIA; tax fraud
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Save Our Homes: Shifting the Burden
The authors investigated the effectiveness of the 1995 Save Our Homes constitutional amendment in Florida. The law was designed to prevent protect homeowners, but ended up constructing a web of unequal and unfair taxation. They authors explore the various affects, both positive and negative, of the law.
Tags: property taxes; state government; landlords; business; rent; mortgage
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Businesses Crack the Code
The amount that Bay Area's largest corporations are taxed and the amount they actually pay didn't match up. Reporters examining federal income tax reports found that the group paid six billion less that the effective amount. These articles went unchallenged by these corporations.
Tags: Bay Area; Bay Area corporations; taxation; tax laws; federal income tax; 35% corporation tax; California tax laws
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Unexpectedly high tax bills stun new homeowners
As part of the Unaffordable Housing stories, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel looks the high taxation rate for new home buyers. The taxes remain low as long as a person owns the home but increases considerably as soon as the house is sold. The new buyers then have to incur the high rate of taxes. In this story, the reporters use recent house buyers as sources, who believe that they should have been told about the higher taxation rates.
Tags: unaffordable housing; housing; taxes; property tax; selling houses; real estate; taxation; taxes; FOIA
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Dubious Value: A Haphazard System for Assessing Property Values Produces Huge Differences in Tax Bills for Similar Properties
This investigation unearthed some major issues with property assessment in New Orleans. People who bought homes in New Orleans in 2003 paid, on average, 70 percent more than the value assigned by the assessor. These deficiencies in the appraisal process occur because many valuations have been "...Out of whack for decades, leading to accumulated tax inequities in the tens of thousands of dollars on some properties." The biggest breaks go to homeowners in neighborhoods that have experienced steep price appreciation in the last decade. The implications of this problem manifest themselves in the potholes on the streets and low-quality school buildings -- the city is losing tens of millions of dollars in property tax revenue every year.
Tags: property management; assessment; taxation; education; city programs; homeowners; housing market; garden district
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Quachita Parish Police Jury
In this story the News- Star investigates the local police department - The Quachita Parish Police. The investigation revealed that taxpayers money was being used illegally for public computers and other equipment.
Tags: Quachita parish police; jury; fraud; taxation; police department fraud; police department
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Tax sale investigation
"This is a story about homeowners whose houses were sold from underneath them." WWL's investigation reveals that certain corporations buy homes at city tax sales for the amount homeowners owe in back taxes, and then demand large sums for the return of the houses to the inhabitants. Homeowners sometimes lose their houses for as little as $273, without even knowing they owe back taxes. And, Swensen reports, the practice is perfectly legal.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; business; New Orleans city government; tax laws; taxation; property; official public notices
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The losing race to curb property taxes
A Star-Ledger analysis finds that in the 1990s new growth in New Jersey coincided with rising tax rates. In theory development should have lowered taxes. The series, based on statistical data from state agencies, also shows how growth has widened the gap between haves and have-nots. Maps and graphics illustrate the decrease and the increase of property values and tax rates in different New Jersey counties.
Tags: growth; landowners; sprawl; suburbs; urbanization; property; taxation