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Posted May 16, 2014in Iowa Watchdog

Taken for a ride: Taxpayers send tourism officials on a bus tour and get questionable numbers in return

DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa taxpayers just spent $29,000 to send state tourism officials on a nine-day bus tour of the state, all in the name of promoting tourism. The [...]

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Posted May 09, 2014in Iowa Watchdog

Tax grab: Iowa county’s residents forced into funding city hall they won’t use

DES MOINES, Iowa — Taxpayers all across Scott County will help Walcott pay for a new city hall, whether they want to or not. Walcott intends to use up to [...]

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Posted May 05, 2014in Iowa Watchdog

Downgraded Des Moines feels the cost of public pensions

Some of the damage of public pensions — what Warren Buffet once called “a gigantic financial tapeworm” — is being visited upon Des Moines. Moody’s Investors Service announced Wednesday it lowered the [...]

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Posted April 29, 2014in Iowa Watchdog

One dollar payments get Iowa millions in Medicare dollars

DES MOINES, Iowa — Talk about a massive return on investment: Iowa receives millions each year from the federal government in exchange for $1 monthly contributions for each of the [...]

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Posted April 29, 2014in Iowa Watchdog

Casinos will pay $92 million to end dog racing mandate

DES MOINES, Iowa —Decades of state-mandated subsidies for Iowa’s two greyhound racing tracks may be about to end. In exchange for a $92 million payout to the state’s greyhound racing [...]

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Posted April 24, 2014in Iowa Watchdog

Iowa congressman urged IRS to investigate nonprofits

DES MONES, Iowa — Four days after the head of the Internal Revenue Service denied the agency was targeting conservative social welfare organizations applying for tax exempt status, Rep. Bruce [...]

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Posted April 24, 2014in Iowa Watchdog

Iowa to give Microsoft millions in exchange for 86 jobs

DES MOINES, Iowa— The Iowa Economic Development Authority has unmasked Project Alluvion, awarding $18 million in sales tax rebates for Microsoft to build a data center in West Des Moines. [...]

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Posted April 24, 2014in Iowa Watchdog

Zoom! Sioux City and South Dakota battle over speed cameras

DES MOINES, Iowa — Sioux City’s Interstate 29 mobile speed cameras, which pumped $4.5 million into the city’s general operating budget last year, have just become less profitable. Neighboring South [...]

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Posted April 16, 2014in Iowa Watchdog

IRS-Social Security seizure a ticking time bomb

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Washington Post declared victory Tuesday for exposing the seizure of income-tax refunds to claw back alleged Social Security overpayments. But the legal issue of garnishing money from [...]

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Posted April 15, 2014in Iowa Watchdog

In Iowa, go to prom, get a tax credit

DES MONIES, Iowa — Some of that huge sum your kid shamed you into blowing on prom is eligible for a state tax credit, although nobody is quite sure just [...]

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