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 "taxpayer money" ...
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America's Great State Payroll Giveaway
A state-employed psychiatrist in California made $822,000 by clocking in 17 hours every day last year, including Sundays and holidays. An employee cashed out with $609,000 for unused vacation when she retired, claiming she never took vacations in a 30-year career. A highway patrol officer collected $484,000 in salary, pension and leave payments. The chief money manager at a Texas pension fund got $1 million in salary and bonuses while posting investment returns that trailed those of peers who earned a quarter as much. Bloomberg News used freedom-of-information laws to obtain 1.4 million payroll records from the 12 largest states and show how taxpayers funded these out-of-control expenses and more, while at the same time states cut funding for universities, public safety, health care, schools and services aimed at the neediest residents.
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For-Profit-College Business Model Breeds Exploitative Marketing Tactics
In the first radio piece: Interviews with former recruiters, faculty, administrators and students of a small group of for-profit colleges in Minnesota paint a picture of schools that are exploiting unsophisticated students for their financial-aid money. Analysis points to a high-enrollment, high-dropout business model that earns the company millions but provides questionable return on taxpayer investment. In the second radio piece: Political differences at the federal level make it unclear how much the government will regulate for-profit colleges. At the Minnesota state level, the leading official for higher-ed says his agency doesn’t have the resources to go after problem colleges – and isn’t sure whether beefing up enforcement would be the best use of higher-education funding.
Tags: Non-profit colleges; financial aid; business models; for-profit colleges
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The Price of Protection
The first in-depth report about a troubled and secretive civil-commitment program for dangerous sex offenders in Washington state. It revealed waste of taxpayer money, unconstrained legal costs, profiteering by expert witnesses, and chronic problems with staff at the high-security facility for the offenders.
Tags: Sex offenders; taxes; taxpayers; facility staff
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Denticaid: Medicaid Dental Abuse in Texas
A nearly two-year-long probe of Medicaid dentistry by WFAA’s Byron Harris discovered what authorities now say is a system of corporate fraud, propelled by Wall Street. News 8 found taxpayer money has gone to finance lavish lifestyles of dentists who have billed the government for unnecessary orthodontics and other procedures that, in many instances, harmed children. WFAA also uncovered a network of Medicaid recruiters who, for at least one clinic, lured children into a van with cash and food, had them sign their parents' names on treatment forms, then performed extensive and unnecessary work on their teeth without their parents’ permission. The FBI is currently investigating this and other Medicaid fraud schemes brought to light by WFAA's reporting.
Tags: Medicaid; dental health; fraud; corruption
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Fraud on the Job
KING 5 dedicated nearly a year to dig into the complex world of the federal minority contracting program. The program is intended to remedy past and current discrimination against minority and women-owned contracting businesses who want a shot at working on federal highway projects. But instead of fostering equal opportunity, KING found staggering fraud and abuse in the taxpayer-funded program. The investigative series titled “Fraud on the Job" was born. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is responsible for administering the program. WSDOT contracts with a small state agency, the Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises (OMWBE) to certify which contractors qualify as "disadvantaged business enterprises" or DBEs. They also make sure that once in, the companies aren’t cheating or becoming too big to qualify. The state’s share of billions of federal highway funds comes with some strings attached, including a requirement that a certain percentage of money spent on transportation projects be reserved for minority-owned firms. The results of the “Fraud on the Job” series were swift and extraordinary. Two days after the first story aired, the governor ordered the Washington State Patrol to conduct a criminal fraud investigation. She also ordered a top-to- bottom review of OMWBE. Two weeks later, the governor asked the director of OMWBE to resign. Another top manager quit and another was fired. Two of the companies KING exposed as defrauding the government were removed from the DBE program by the state. State and federal legislation is now being drafted to stop the cheating. And now the FBI and the Inspector General of the U.S. Dept. of Transportation are investigating.
Tags: fraud; government; tax; taxpayer; fund
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The Price of Parking
The City of Columbia disregarded a study it comissioned building a parking garage double the size of a 3rd party recommendation. The garage, at 5th and Walnut in downtown Columbia, MO, remains mostly empty putting financial strain on the city's parking utility. Yet the city plans on building another parking garage six blocks away from the brand new garage. The city didn't have the money to pay for the first garage and doesn't have money to pay for the second garage. The first garage cost taxpayers $21 million. The city says the second garage will cost another $12 million- not including interest.
Tags: Parking Garages; Columbia; Missouri; Parking
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Public Salary Database
The reporters set out to track the total cost of employment for state workers, tracking everything from the amount of taxpayer money that goes toward health benefits to overtime and even retirement benefits.
Tags: state workers; employment; taxpayer; overtime; retirement
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Homeland Security
Colorado officials spent more than $350 million to protect the state from a terrorist attack, but what they purchased was a secret for nearly a decade. The Denver Post discovered that taxpayer money had gone toward hundreds of ballistic shields, body bags, bomb robots and even armored tanks.
Tags: homeland security; terrorism; taxpayer money
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Sink or Swim: Mavericks High Schools claim to help trouble students, but questions persist about their quest for profits from taxpayer money
The investigation reveals that the for-profit charter school Mavericks in Education Florida drive for profit conflicts with the company's mission of helping at-risk kids graduate from high school. Maverick's graduation rates are abysmal, former employees allege its attendance records and grades are falsified, and the schcools receive "incomplete" grades from the Florida Department of Education. Using taxpayer funds, the company is promising thousands of kinds an education that it does not deliver.
Tags: high school; mavericks; falsified; grades; frank biden
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Show Me the Money: Housing Authority Investigation
"In this four-part investigation, KCET primarily focused on how employees at the Housing Authority of the city of LA spent taxpayer money. They also looked at the salaries and bonuses of managers, and uncovered a pattern of wrongful termination lawsuits, which cost taxpayers over $13 million dollars in just four years."
Tags: housing authority; HACLA; broadcast