Wealthy landowners in Milwaukee labelling abandoned properties as churches to avoid property tax

[TheMightyFavog]

http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/117473703.html

Every year hundreds of properties quietly fall off Milwaukee's tax rolls, the owners identifying themselves as benevolent institutions, churches, nonprofit hospitals and other organizations that state lawmakers have decided should not pay property taxes.

Far fewer are added to the tax rolls, strapping city budgets and sticking existing property owners with an ever-growing portion of the overall tax bill.

(snip)

Meanwhile, assessors across the state fail to properly monitor exemptions - snubbing requirements - while the state Department of Revenue does little to enforce the rules.

The Journal Sentinel identified nearly $500,000 worth of properties with suspicious exemptions while examining just a few cases from 2010 in Milwaukee.

[handmade34]

1. laws written just for this

churches and agriculturally lands are claims by many wealthy to avoid taxes, all across the United States

[ThomCat]

2. There is always a loophole available for the rich.

and never enough funding for staff to catch them.

:grr:

I bet anyone who gets "too successful" chasing down those wealthy tax cheats and trying to make them pay will find himself/herself run off the job very quickly too, for "harassing taxpayers" or some other bull shit.

Not only do wealthy people have all the loopholes, but they always find ways to have the bosses in their pocket. :(

[begin_within]

3. Where they worship the almighty dollar.

[jillan]

7. lol - you nailed it!

[madmax]

4. Such bull! We should all apply for

mail order divinity degrees. Use your living room, spare room, basement, screened in porch. Whatever.

I am so SICK of this bullshit. The other day someone told me that Bachmann gets either a farm subsidy or some other farm related benefit from the Feds. Christie Todd Whitman former Gov. of NJ does also. Damn get overs.

[Angry Dragon]

5. She does get farm subsidy

and her husband and her get Medicaid money from their Mental health clinics
where god is the ultimate councilor

[madmax]

12. What a POS both her and her husband. nt

[Rex]

6. Somehow the rich get away with breaking the same laws as the

working poor...yet never get penalized like the poor do. Says all you need to know about America.

[Kievan Rus]

8. Just when you think the rich parasites can't possibly get any lower...

they do something like this.

[Vinnie From Indy]

9. I'll wager the vast majority of these "exempt" properties are owned by Republicans

Typical hypocrisy!

[Snoutport]

10. Who is supposed to investigate this sort of stuff?? We should start a

letter writing campaign.

[hedgehog]

11. Here's the problem:

"Meanwhile, assessors across the state fail to properly monitor exemptions - snubbing requirements - while the state Department of Revenue does little to enforce the rules."

We also have a Republican Congress cutting the budget for the IRS.

[bengalherder]

13. We need laws like they have in the UK and AU

You can only be tax-exempt,claim property etc as being for religious use if you can prove that you are somehow benefitting the community and the greater good for doing so.

IMO, we should have a public benefit litmus test here in the states.

[ck4829]

14. K&R