Governor Walker attacks Trek Bike owner/gubernatorial candidate for paying too little tax

Gov. Scott Walker has attacked Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke and her family's bicycling business because it hasn't paid corporate income taxes to Wisconsin in decades.

Trek Bicycle Corp. is a tax-dodger, much to Burke's personal benefit, according to the GOP governor.

But Burke officials said Trek's owners — like many other businesses — pay taxes on the company's profits as individuals rather than through corporate taxes.

So exactly how much has the Burke clan forked over to the state?

A lot, it turns out.

Records show Burke, her mother and three siblings living in Wisconsin paid a total of $1.77 million in personal income taxes in 2012. That would mean the five Burke family members reported a total adjusted gross income of at least $22.8 million during that year.

It is not known what percentage of Trek is owned by the Burke family.

The company's largest individual shareholder, John Burke — Mary's brother and Trek's CEO — had a state tax bill of $841,781 in 2012. Given the state's top tax rate, he reported an adjusted gross income of at least $10.8 million that year.

The Burkes, in short, are a wealthy family with a healthy tax bill.

But Joe Fadness, executive director of the state Republican Party, suggested that Trek and its owners still aren't paying all they should. That's because Trek takes advantage of Subchapter S of the IRS code that allows the company to pass on its tax obligation to its shareholders at lower rates.

"At the same time millionaire Mary Burke didn't pay income taxes at several points, they (Trek officials) ironically boast about how they avoid paying their fair share of corporate taxes in order to pay a much lower rate by shifting the profits to shareholders," Fadness said.

​Trek isn't the only company in the state that does this.

In fact, the majority of Wisconsin businesses operate as S corporations.

Many companies choose to do so to avoid what shareholders see as double taxation inherent in the traditional tax structure. That would mean the company pays a tax on its earnings, and then shareholders who receive a dividend must pay taxes on that income.

Joe Zepecki, spokesman for Burke, accused the governor of trying to "knowingly mislead" voters about a major Wisconsin business and its tax burden.

"As Mary has said from the start," Zepecki said, "Trek pays its fair share of taxes through its shareholders, just like 90% of Wisconsin businesses."

The tax information for the Burke family was obtained from the state Department of Revenue. Only the net income tax paid to the state is publicly available. The agency does not release other tax information, such as whether a taxpayer filed a joint or individual return.

John Burke declined to comment to No Quarter on his personal taxes.

But in a recent interview with Journal Sentinel reporter Bill Glauber, John Burke expressed dismay at the governor's criticism of Trek, saying the veteran politician understands how S corps work.

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John Burke also was surprised to find out that his tax information was publicly available.

"I'm not running for governor. My mother is not running for governor," he said. "Scott Walker can get my mother's taxes? Why?"

Records show Mary Burke paid $516,965 in state income taxes from 2008 to 2012. That would mean she reported an adjusted gross income of at least $6.8 million during that time. The figure could be much higher because her charitable donations result in large deductions on her tax bill.

In 2012, the Democratic candidate paid $120,316 in state income taxes. With the state's top tax rate of 7.75%, she would have reported an adjusted gross income of at least $1.5 million.

Her payment was more than 100 times the state average. Wisconsin collected $1,128 in state income taxes per state resident in 2011, according to the Tax Foundation.

Mary Burke's tax payments were the smallest of the five Burke family members living in Wisconsin. Each one has been paying a six-figure sum to the state annually in recent years.

Like her mother and siblings (she has one brother and two sisters in Wisconsin and one outside the state), Mary Burke's tax payments increased dramatically in 2008 after the death of her father, Richard, Trek's co-founder. His estate sold Trek stock to family members, meaning they were hit with increased taxes on the company's profits.

As a group, the five Wisconsin Burke family members coughed up more than $6.2 million in net state income taxes from 2008 to 2012.

The annual amounts paid by several individual family members now routinely exceed the most ever paid in a single year by Richard Burke. In 2005, he was nicked by the state for $244,467, his largest Wisconsin tax bill.

In 1998, the father stepped down as Trek CEO, turning over the reins to his son and focusing his time and efforts on creating the family's charity. The Burke Foundation, which gives money to a number of Milwaukee groups and schools, had a balance of nearly $117 million in 2012, according to tax records.

According to the state Department of Revenue, Mary Burke paid little state income taxes during her first stint working at Trek from 1990 to 1993 — a point of contention in the gubernatorial race. There is no record of a tax filing in 1994, a time when she took a yearlong sabbatical to go snowboarding in Argentina and Colorado.

Zepecki, the campaign spokesman for Burke, said she had no tax liability in 1990 because she lost money on some New York rental property, offsetting her Trek earnings. As for 1992 and 1993, she was living in Europe as Trek's head of European operations.

The federal government allows individuals living abroad for more than 330 days in a year to exempt foreign earnings up to a certain amount, thus lowering the amount of taxes owed. The figure was $70,000 for 1993.

Fadness, the GOP chief and Walker ally, has raised questions as to why Burke did not pay any state income taxes during these years. The Burke campaign has acknowledged making minor errors early in the campaign regarding her work history when discussing this issue.

Mary Burke "did not pay taxes at several points in her career at the same time middle-class families were working hard to put food on the table — something she is desperately trying to justify with lame excuses and repeated edits to her résumé," Fadness said.

But Zepecki said this is not an issue.

"Mary Burke has paid all the taxes she's owed," Zepecki said Friday. "Any suggestion to the contrary is completely false."

Above is from:   Daniel Bice - Burke, family paid $1.7 million in 2012 state income taxes

Beloit billionaire pays zero in 2010 state income tax bill

The goose egg in 2010 was the first zero obligation posted by the Beloit billionaire since at least 2002, according to records from the state Department of Revenue and ABC Supply Inc., the nation's largest wholesale distributor of roofing, windows and siding and owned by Hendricks. She had a seven-figure Wisconsin tax bill in four of the previous five years, the records show.

Hendricks was thrust into the spotlight last month when a videotape showing her talking with Gov. Scott Walker about strategies to fight unions was released. In the tape, which is part of a documentary under production, Walker talked about using a "divide and conquer" strategy toward unions through his budget-adjustment bill, which curtailed most collective bar gaining for most public employee unions and created a political uproar that will culminate with Tuesday's recall election.

An active financial supporter of conservative causes, Hendricks has given Walker's campaign more than $500,000, making her Walker's largest donor.

Her state tax obligation dropped from $2.26 million for 2009 to zero for 2010 because of a change in the corporate structure of ABC Supply said Scott Bianchini, ABC tax director. The company paid taxes of $373,671 for the second half of 2010, the records show.

Bianchini explained that before 2010, ABC Supply was an "S" corporation, meaning the profits and the tax obligation flowed to Hendricks as the owner of the firm. In 2010, the company changed its structure so the profits and the tax obligation stay with the company.

"Now ABC is paying taxes on its own," Bianchini said.

Hendricks' March net worth was estimated by Forbes Magazine to be $2.8 billion - some $300 million more than Helen Johnson-Leipold, chief executive of Johnson Outdoors Inc. The magazine last year listed Hendricks as No. 188 on its ranking of the wealthiest people in America, a spot that had her as the financial equal of William Randolph Hearst III.

Bianchini declined to comment when asked whether Hendricks, who is chairman of ABC, had other income such as salary or dividends that could have been taxed in 2010.

He also declined to say why ABC's tax bill in 2010 was so low compared with what Hendricks had paid on its behalf in prior years, when its profits flowed to her bottom line.

"Diane is not willing to divulge any more," Bianchini said. "ABC converted to a 'C' corporation - that's a substantial part of why there's no 2010 tax liability (for Hendricks)."

He added that there were other reasons Hendricks paid zero state income taxes in 2010.

"We're just not willing to get into it," Bianchini said. "It's just digging, in our opinion, too deep into her taxes."

Hendricks, who worked with her husband, Kenneth, in building ABC, became chairman of the company after her husband died in 2007. The company now posts annual revenue of more than $4 billion.

Jon Peacock, research director of the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families - a liberal-leaning advocacy group - said the lack of a 2010 tax liability can make people question the fairness of the state tax code.

"It creates a suspicion that there is some gaming of the tax system going on," Peacock said.

Todd Berry, president of the nonpartisan Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, said legislators, not wealthy taxpayers, are to blame.

"If the legislators choose to create all sort of deductions, credits and exclusions to state tax law, then you're going to create strange situations," Berry said. "Both sides of the aisle have used the tax laws as a Christmas tree to hang all sorts of things on."

Bianchini said that despite the 2010 bills, ABC and Hendricks have paid their fair share in taxes.

"Diane Hendricks and Ken Hendricks paid $10 million in (state income) taxes since 2005," Bianchini said, adding that focusing on the tax bill of zero in 2010 is "meaningless and minutiae."

Besides, he said, ABC is a national company, and Hendricks and the company have paid millions of dollars in taxes in other states.

In addition, Bianchini provided records showing that the company paid Wisconsin income taxes of more than $1 million last year and said that Hendricks' 2011 income tax liability is "substantial." He declined to provide more specific information.

Hendricks declined to be interviewed, and the company declined to disclose any information about federal taxes paid by ABC or Hendricks.

The Journal Sentinel purchased from the Revenue Department records showing how much the company paid in taxes from 2006-2010 and the amount Hendricks paid from 2008-2010. ABC supplied information for prior years.

Above is from:  Beloit billionaire pays zero in 2010 state income tax bill

Exxon Mobil Under Investigation in New York Over Climate Statements - The New York Times

Interestingly there was an earlier opinion piece on Exxon by KelleLouaillier and BillMcKibben which speaks very clearly about the questioned Exxon actions

  see:  http://boonecountywatchdog.blogspot.com/2015/10/opinion-how-big-oil-hijacked-climate.html

The New York attorney general has begun a sweeping investigation of Exxon Mobil to determine whether the company lied to the public about the risks of climate change or to investors about how those risks might hurt the oil business.

According to people with knowledge of the investigation, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman issued a subpoena Wednesday evening to Exxon Mobil, demanding extensive financial records, emails and other documents.

The focus includes the company’s activities dating to the late 1970s, including a period of at least a decade when Exxon Mobil funded groups that sought to undermine climate science. A major focus of the investigation is whether the company adequately warned investors about potential financial risks stemming from society’s need to limit fossil-fuel use.

Kenneth P. Cohen, vice president for public affairs at Exxon Mobil, said on Thursday that the company had received the subpoena and was still deciding how to respond.

“We unequivocally reject the allegations that Exxon Mobil has suppressed climate-change research,” Mr. Cohen said, adding that the company had funded mainstream climate science since the 1970s, had published dozens of scientific papers on the topic, and had disclosed climate risks to investors.

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Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman of New York, shown in May, issued a subpoena Wednesday demanding extensive financial records, emails and other documents from the company. Credit Hans Pennink/Associated Press

The people with knowledge of the New York case also said on Thursday that, in a separate inquiry, Peabody Energy, the nation’s largest coal producer, had been under investigation by the attorney general for two years over whether it properly disclosed financial risks related to climate change. That investigation has not been previously reported, and has not resulted in any charges or other legal action against Peabody.

Vic Svec, a Peabody senior vice president, said in a statement, “Peabody continues to work with the New York attorney general’s office regarding our disclosures, which have evolved over the years.”

The Exxon Mobil investigation might expand further, to encompass other oil companies, according to the people with knowledge of the case, though no additional subpoenas have been issued to date.

The people spoke on the condition they not be identified, saying they were not authorized to speak publicly. The Martin Act, a New York state law, confers on the attorney general broad powers to investigate financial fraud.

Mr. Schneiderman’s decision to scrutinize the fossil-fuel companies may well open a sweeping new legal front in the battle over climate change. To date, lawsuits trying to hold fossil-fuel companies accountable for the damage they are causing to the climate have been failing in the courts, but most of those have been pursued by private plaintiffs.

Attorneys general for other states could join in Mr. Schneiderman’s efforts, bringing far greater investigative and legal resources to bear on the issue. Some experts see the potential for a legal assault on fossil-fuel companies similar to the lawsuits against the tobacco companies in recent decades, costing those companies tens of billions of dollars in penalties.

“This could open up years of litigation and settlements in the same way that tobacco litigation did, also spearheaded by attorneys general,” said Brandon L. Garrett, a professor at the University of Virginia law school. “In some ways, the theory is similar — that the public was misled about something dangerous to health. Whether the same smoking guns will emerge, we don’t know yet

Exxon Mobil Under Investigation in New York Over Climate Statements - The New York Times

Planning, Zoning and Building Committee OKs wind turbine ordinance changes - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

By Adam Poulisse
Staff writer

Posted Nov. 4, 2015 at 10:39 PM

BELVIDERE — The Boone County Planning, Zoning and Building Committee on Wednesday voted 4-1 to recommend an amendment to an ordinance governing where wind turbines can be placed in relation to property lines.

The vote comes after months of debate and testimony over where turbines should be located in the county.

The revised ordinance states that wind energy conversion systems must be at least 2,640 feet, or 5.5 times the height of the turbine tower, away from a property line. The current ordinance states that wind turbines must be 1,000 feet from a residence.

The amended ordinance must still be approved by the full County Board at its Nov. 18 meeting.

"This goes to the issue of the safety and the health of residents of the county," said David Cleverdon, a Caledonia resident who lobbied for a change in the ordinance. "It's designed to protect them, and the board voted on it. It's a good thing for the county.

The Board of Appeals voted 5-0 last week to support the amendment after eight months of committee meetings. Those opposing wind turbines in Boone County brought in regional experts and people who have lived near wind farms. They cited health issues related to the noise and shadows cast by the turbines. No wind turbines have been established yet in Boone County.

"It actually, to me, was an obvious thing to do tonight," committee Chairman Denny Ellingson said after the meeting. "We had a vote to support all the information that was brought through all the ZBA testimony. Without anybody ever contradicting any part of that, it was just an automatic vote it seemed to me. I'm only surprised it was 4-1."

Committee and County Board member Kenny Freeman cast the lone dissenting vote. He said evidence presented by supporters of the ordinance change wasn't substantial enough.

"It was clear to me they were anti-wind people, and I will not be supporting this," he said during the meeting. "I think it's terrible for Boone County ..."

Karen Kenney, a key supporter of the amendment, said she was "thrilled" by the vote.

"We've been researching for five years, so the last eight months have been a culmination of the knowledge and the information that we have gained," she said. "If you got health, safety and welfare as the crux of your (ordinance) amendment, that is what every single County Board member raises their hand to uphold as they are sworn into office."

The revised ordinance also would allow property owners to waive setback conditions if an agreement is made with neighboring property owners.

"If you want a wind turbine on your property, you can waive that," Cleverdon said. "Then, you can go to the neighbors as well to waive that protection. Then it drops to 1,500 feet.

Deb Doetch, a Poplar Grove resident, opposes the amendment. She said she and about 50 families have a landowner agreement with Mainstream Renewable Power, a company that has been looking to install wind farms in Boone County for about five years. A lawyer with Mainstream has represented their side in the debate, Doetch said.

She said the waiver is "illegal," and if the County Board OKs the amendment, it will result in a lawsuit.

"Obviously it's a disappointment, but there's part of me that says you can't get a fair hearing in Boone County," Doetch said. "So maybe I'm smiling a little because this will force it to get a new hearing (in court)."

"I anticipated this vote," Doetch said, "but I also greatly believe they can't win with this ordinance."

Above is from:  Planning, Zoning and Building Committee OKs wind turbine ordinance changes - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Donald Trump Is Now Losing to a Guy Who Isn’t Even Trying - Yahoo Finance

By Rob Garver 18 hours ago

 

When he entered the GOP presidential nomination contest over the summer, he rocketed to the top of the polls almost immediately, and there he stayed. Despite intemperate outbursts against minorities, dubious promises about “fixing” a country he describes as “crippled,” and a habit of taunting his opponents with middle school-level insults, Donald Trump has consistently led the GOP in the polls and been described almost universally as the party’s frontrunner.

Until now. Today, Trump is trailing in a closely watched average of national polls; moreover, the guy who’s beating him isn’t even campaigning right now.

On Wednesday, the release of a new national Quinnipiac poll pushed retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson ahead of Trump, 25.3 to 24.3 in the polling average maintained by the website Real Clear Politics. The RCP average has become the de facto standard for gauging the state of the horserace in a campaign where participation in the all-important candidate debates is determined by polling averages.

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Were the tables turned, Trump would undoubtedly be shouting the results from the digital rooftops via Twitter and Instagram. Carson, though, has been relatively quiet. His website and Twitter account linked to stories about the polling averages, but other than that, the Detroit native has been relatively quiet.

That’s because, unlike Trump, Carson isn’t on the campaign trail, at least in any official sense. He has, instead, “suspended” his campaign while on a tour promoting his most recent book, A More Perfect Union: What We the People Can Do to Reclaim Our Constitutional Liberties.

The Quinnipiac Poll actually showed Trump leading Carson by a single percentage point, but because of the way RCP calculates its averages (it appears to use the four most recent major national polls conducted by four distinct polling organizations) the appearance of the Quinnipiac poll knocked out a mid-October survey by Monmouth University, in which Trump led Carson by 10 percent.

The result was a 1.3 percent increase in Carson’s average and a 1.0 percent decline in Trump’s, enough to put the famous neurosurgeon ahead of the billionaire former reality television star, on average, for the first time in the contest.

Like Carson, Trump also has a book, Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again. However, rather than suspend his campaign to promote it, he has integrated the book into the campaign.

Trump’s immediate response to the growing challenge from Carson –no surprise here – has been to go on the attack. In a Wednesday morning interview with CNN, he said that Carson would be unable to address the country’s fiscal problems (“Carson does not have the mentality to do that. He has no chance”), and he’s unable to deal with world leaders (“Ben will not be able to deal with China. He will not be able to deal with Iran. He will not be able to deal with any of the countries that are really abusing our country.”).

Trump also took a shot at Carson’s extremely low-key personality, comparing him to former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who Trump has repeatedly slammed as a “low-energy candidate.”

“Frankly, when you talk about energy, [Carson’s] got lower energy than Jeb Bush,” he told host Chris Cuomo. “If Ben got in you would say, ‘Oh, my God. We have ourselves a problem.’”

Trump even went after Carson for suggesting that Trump’s upcoming gig as host of Saturday Night Live is beneath the office he’s seeking.

“Ben Carson would have done it in two seconds if they asked him,” Trump said. “But if they asked him, nobody would watch. So they wouldn’t ask him.”

Donald Trump Is Now Losing to a Guy Who Isn’t Even Trying - Yahoo Finance