WRAL.com - WRAL Investigates Government Spending

WRAL Investigates: Private country clubs can claim nonprofit status

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 18:49:45 -0500

Carolina Country Club is one of the most prestigious clubs in Raleigh. Formed in 1910, membership to the five-star facility is invitation only. The club's latest tax forms show it generated close to $13 million from dues and other sources. Thanks to its nonprofit status, the club pays no corporate income tax.

State ends crisis housing program: 'Some mistakes were made'

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 19:42:21 -0500

North Carolina taxpayers spent nearly $200,000 over eight years to help a Robeson County woman with a leaky roof. Dianne Galbreath says she applied for hurricane assistance and ended up with a brand new house.

GOP has majority to update state's tax structure

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 18:48:21 -0500

The rough outlines of the Republican plan are clear enough: lower and eliminate corporate and individual income taxes. Replace that revenue through a flatter, simpler tax for businesses and broaden the sales tax base by taxing more items.

Closing tax 'loopholes' could be painful for all

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 18:34:56 -0500

Advocates of tax reform says the state needs to get rid of tax breaks for special interests. But many "loopholes" in the state's tax code are breaks used by average citizens, nonprofits and small businesses.

Politicians' pet projects are 'not transparent,' professor says

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 10:19:13 -0500

Politicians' practice of putting earmarks in the budget with names attached for pet projects was banned in 2010, but many watchdog groups say earmarks aren't really gone, just redefined and sometimes underground.

NC shelter kills 99 percent of animals, records show

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 19:36:04 -0500

For dogs and cats that end up at the Montgomery County Animal Shelter, the journey is like being sent to death row. The shelter, which has the highest kill rate in the state, euthanized nearly 1,200 animals - 100 percent of cats and 98 percent of dogs - last year.

Investigators: Child tax credit allows fraudsters a chance to cheat

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 15:40:39 -0400

Federal investigators uncovered more than 1,000 tax returns linked to eight addresses in North Carolina last May, with refunds worth more than $5 million. Investigators say it's part of a tax fraud scheme among suspected illegal immigrants that the Internal Revenue Service was warned about more than a decade ago but has done little to fix.

Durham agency denied Medicaid money after 'allegation of fraud'

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 18:25:41 -0400

Two months after the WRAL Investigates team reported on nearly $200 million in possible Medicaid fraud in North Carolina, records show another Triangle company may have excessively billed the state for Medicaid claims.

NC's flight fleet expensive, underused, critics say

Thu, 12 May 2011 19:24:19 -0400

Most of the year, North Carolina Department of Transportation and Commerce aircraft sit in the state-leased hangar at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. Some wonder, could the private sector fly state leaders for less?

Firefighter's widow wasn't only one mistakenly paid benefits

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 18:50:23 -0500

When the state Treasurer's Office told a firefighter's widow that she'd have to pay back a $50,000 death benefit, she wondered who else was getting that type of call. The state had made the mistake, and it wasn't the first time.

State's typo forces firefighter's widow to pay back $50,000 in benefits

Wed, 24 Nov 2010 16:38:51 -0500

After losing her 46-year-old husband to a heart attack, Amanda Barringer got a phone call she never expected. A woman on the other end of the phone explained that the state had accidentally overpaid Barringer $50,000 in benefits for her husband's death, and the money had to be returned.

UNC engineer claims university wasted taxpayer money

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 19:02:06 -0500

A state worker who claimed that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill wasted millions in taxpayer dollars on electricity said he is standing by his assertion, even though school leaders disagree.

Medicare fraud easy to disguise; asking questions important

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 19:20:43 -0500

Complicated billing codes can make Medicare fraud easy to disguise, and as one Medicare recipient told WRAL Investigates, it’s important to ask questions about your statements.

Raleigh breaks own watering rules at amphitheater

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 19:00:08 -0400

The city's year-round water restrictions prohibit residents and businesses from using sprinklers on Mondays, and crews at Raleigh's new downtown amphitheater now know that rule by heart.

UNC system schools to collect sales tax on online purchases

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 19:04:29 -0400

Schools in the University of North Carolina system will begin collecting sales tax on school merchandise bought online, UNC President Erskine Bowles said Friday.

Perdue: College gear sales-tax disparity 'makes no sense'

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 14:10:55 -0400

Gov. Bev Perdue says she was surprised by a WRAL News investigation into online sales-tax disparities over state university merchandise. She sent a letter to UNC's president on Thursday.

Love of college sports gear leads to N.C. sales tax losses

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:37:11 -0400

North Carolina loses an estimated $162 million in sales tax each year because of Internet purchases, and WRAL Investigates found a large chunk of that money comes from the state's love of college sports.

N.C. lawmakers' pay unfair, outdated?

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:20:48 -0400

State lawmakers get paid from several different pots. There's a base salary, a monthly expense budget, travel reimbursement and a per diem when they're in session – a per diem they collect even on the weekends.

Sweepstakes ban passes Senate committee

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 10:26:00 -0400

As the computers glow and simulated slots keep multiplying across North Carolina, the debate over how to handle the so-called sweepstakes cafés continues to fracture.

Sweepstakes debate continues to fracture

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 19:12:20 -0400

As the computers glow and simulated slots keep multiplying across North Carolina, the debate over how to handle the so-called sweepstakes cafés continues to fracture.

Lawmaker wants commuting workers to use state vehicles

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 17:21:00 -0400

The House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday approved a budget amendment that would require state agencies to use vehicles from the State Motor Fleet for employees who rack up high travel expenses.

Senator: N.C.'s private consulting contracts 'very expensive'

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 09:11:31 -0400

More than 150,000 employees conduct the state's business everyday from the highways to college classrooms. But when the agencies look to study an issue or hire top level managers, they often spend public money for private sector help.

Schedules show Wake deputies worked long off-duty shifts

Tue, 11 May 2010 18:56:27 -0400

WRAL News has discovered some deputies with the Wake County Sheriff's Office have been scheduled to work long, off-duty shifts with no break before the start of their on-duty shifts.

Lottery is replacement, not addition in school budgets

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:58:25 -0500

When state lawmakers passed the lottery in 2005, they promised that the money would not replace tax dollars meant for education, but analysis of the numbers shows that is exactly what has been happening.

Top state workers rack up thousands in travel expenses

Tue, 04 May 2010 17:56:12 -0400

The vast majority of the nearly 1,400 state revenue employees pay their own way to commute to work. However, internal records show taxpayers cover much of the commute costs for two top managers.

Outside managers mean higher fees for N.C.'s pension fund

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 19:19:32 -0400

A WRAL Investigation shows the state shifting more and more fund management to outside firms, which charge fees that cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars.

Some publicly run venues in N.C. losing money

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:11:10 -0400

A WRAL News investigation into publicly run entertainment venues found that turning a profit is harder than it sounds.

Budget reform panel eyes motor fleet, ABC system

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:52:30 -0500

A panel organized by Gov. Beverly Perdue to locate waste and inefficiency in North Carolina government on Wednesday took aim at two issues uncovered by WRAL News investigations.

Lawmakers to take aim at 'sweepstakes cafés'

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:45:15 -0500

House Speaker Joe Hackney predicts state lawmakers will quickly outlaw so-called sweepstakes cafés when they reconvene in May.

The problem with high health care costs

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:18:44 -0500

Health care facilities have to pay for staff and services and also pay more to make up for the billions in costs the industry loses each year.

Missing Garner money could put strings on Wake funding of fire departments

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:31:43 -0500

As state investigators probe the disappearance of nearly $400,000 from the Garner Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department, Wake County officials are looking at tighter rules on money given to area fire departments and rescue squads.