[Vision2020] Idaho State Tax Commission Chairman Resigns!

[lfalen]

Agreed. The investigation should go forward.
Roger
-----Original message-----
From: "Art Deco" deco at moscow.com
Date: Sat, 08 Jan 2011 14:17:57 -0800
To: "Vision 2020" vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Idaho State Tax Commission Chairman Resigns!

> I hope this intensifies rather than diminishes the investigations of favoritism and unfairness of the Idaho Tax Commission practices, especially those that Shirley Ringo initially raised.
> 
> There are enough problems with the tax laws without aggravating the issues with favoritism and uneven application.
> 
> w.
>   ----- Original Message ----- 
>   From: Tom Hansen 
>   To: Moscow Vision 2020 
>   Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2011 10:29 AM
>   Subject: [Vision2020] Idaho State Tax Commission Chairman Resigns!
> 
> 
>   Courtesy of "Stop Unequal Taxation in Idaho" at:
> 
>   http://www.sutinidaho.org/updates-news/
> 
>   and the Idaho Statesman at:
> 
>   http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/01/08/1480556/idaho-tax-commission-chairman.html
> 
>   ---------------------------------------------------------
> 
>   Idaho State Tax Commission Chairman Royce Chigbrow resigns!
>   BY JOHN MILLER - ASSOCIATED PRESS
>   Published: 01/08/11
> 
>   Royce Chigbrow hand-delivered a letter to Gov. Butch Otter Friday, saying
>   he was resigning "effective immediately" after agency employees said he
>   intervened in cases involving his son and a friend.
> 
>   "I know there needs to be a change," said Chigbrow, appointed by Otter in
>   2007.
> 
>   His resignation comes a day after House Speaker Lawerence Denney said he
>   expected an investigation - and Ada County Prosecutor Greg Bower said his
>   office was looking into whether Chigbrow violated disclosure laws by
>   providing confidential taxpayer information to somebody who wasn't
>   entitled to it. Otter accepted Chigbrow's resignation without commenting
>   on the concerns raised by Tax Commission employees.
> 
>   The governor and Chigbrow are longtime Republican allies: Chigbrow has
>   served as Otter's campaign treasurer; now, the chairman's son, Cordell
>   Chigbrow, is Otter's gubernatorial campaign treasurer.
> 
>   "Royce has been my friend and trusted adviser for a number of years. He
>   was kind enough to enter the arena of public service at my request, and I
>   applaud his hard work, knowledge and expertise in that role," Otter said.
> 
>   'UNUSUAL FOR A COMMISSIONER'
> 
>   Tax Commission employees say Chigbrow sought to assist Benton "Skip"
>   Hofferber, an Idaho businessman who supported Chigbrow's unsuccessful 2006
>   run for state controller. Hofferber is fighting with his former employer,
>   Boise Food Service, after being fired in October 2009.
> 
>   Employees say Chigbrow summoned them to his office to provide details of
>   collection actions against the company to Hofferber, though Hofferber
>   wasn't entitled to it; inappropriately handled checks he'd received from
>   his friend at a private dining club in Boise, resulting in a Boise police
>   investigation; and sought to block a refund last May, after the company
>   brought its tax payments current.
> 
>   Lynn Chenoweth, former administrator of the Tax Commission's audits and
>   collections division who retired in May, said Chigbrow took an active
>   interest in how the agency proceeded with the Boise Food Service case.
> 
>   "He would call me in a couple times a week, asking 'Where are we at with
>   this?'" Chenoweth said. "If we hadn't done anything since the last time he
>   had checked, he would say, 'Why not?' and 'Let's file another levy.' We
>   would have on average 30,000 to 35,000 collection cases at any one time,
>   so to be spending that much time on one case is unusual for a
>   commissioner."
> 
>   The Tax Commission employees also say the chairman intervened in early
>   2010 on behalf of a client of his son's Boise-based accounting firm to
>   reduce a monthly payment plan to remedy delinquent taxes, despite
>   objections of agency staff.
> 
>   "Our system of taxation is not perfect, but I tried to do my best on
>   behalf of every Idahoan during my tenure, while treating taxpayers with
>   the respect, fairness and dignity they deserve," Chigbrow told Otter in
>   his resignation letter.
> 
>   'FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS'
> 
>   Idaho lawmakers are calling for reforms of the Tax Commission in the wake
>   of these concerns, and the state faces a separate, pending lawsuit
>   alleging that commissioners have given tax breaks to politically connected
>   Idaho residents.
> 
>   Proposed reforms could include splitting up the duties of commissioners,
>   who not only oversee agency employees but also must decide tax protests,
>   as well as creating a professional director position to oversee the
>   agency.
> 
>   "I do believe there are some fundamental problems within the Tax
>   Commission and the department itself that need to be addressed," said
>   House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star. "You'll see the Legislature look
>   at that this year."
> 
>   Senate President Pro Tem Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, said Chigbrow's departure
>   now was the appropriate move.
> 
>   "I think he could see that the governor and the Legislature would have a
>   difficult time restoring confidence in the Tax Commission while he was
>   still there," Hill said.
> 
>   Chigbrow's resignation comes as Bower, the Ada County prosecutor,
>   scrutinizes concerns including whether Chigbrow gave confidential tax
>   details to Hofferber after he'd been fired.
> 
>   According to Idaho law, tax commissioners are forbidden from knowingly
>   divulging tax information. Penalties range from fines between $100 and
>   $5,000, up to five years in prison, job forfeiture and a ban from public
>   service.
> 
>   "The issues that surround the ethical piece of this and disclosure issue
>   remain on the table for us," Bower told the AP on Thursday. He didn't
>   immediately return a phone call on Friday.
> 
>   "You don't escape by bowing out of the scene," said Robert Huntley, the
>   Boise attorney who filed this year's lawsuit against tax commissioners
>   over alleged improper settlements.
> 
>   ---------------------------------------------------------
> 
>   One down, five to go!
> 
>   Seeya round town, Moscow.
> 
>   Tom Hansen
>   Moscow, Idaho
> 
>   "The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
>   and the Realist adjusts his sails."
> 
>   - Unknown
> 
> 
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