Taxes, Shmaxes! (OR: Hey Fresno! Guess What The CCSPCA Has Been Doing With YOUR Taxes?)

Remember my last post? I'm guessing lots of you do, because the tally of people reading it keeps climbing. The numbers are now far beyond anything else I've ever posted. But I digress... 

Here's the real scoop: I recently unearthed a decision issued by the United States Tax Court that fills in a lot of blanks in that story. More importantly, the court's ruling verifies many of the conclusions I reached in my previous story about Leroy Combs, former (and frequent) member of the CCSPCA Board of Directors and – by its own admission – one of the shelter's highest paid vendors. The decision also raises lots and lots of questions about who knew (or knows) what in local government and why they've been silent about these gross abuses of taxpayer money.

"What Is The CCSPCA Hiding?" Google Knows - And You Can Too

Since the CCSPCA abruptly announced two weeks ago that it was canceling its contracts with the City of Fresno and Fresno County to “focus on its core mission of preventing cruelty to animals,” many members of the community have been asking, “WTF? Why would an organization like the CCSPCA - which claims to be about helping animals above all - suddenly abandon a relationship with local government after more than four decades? Why, if they have nothing to hide, have they chosen to walk away - rather than stand and defend their position?"

I believe I've discovered part of the answer to that question. And in terms of things an organization that enjoys a "Public Support Percentage" of "97.590 percent" might want to keep hidden, it's a real whopper. (Incidentally, that "97.590 percent" comes directly from the CCSPCA's 2010 tax return.) If members of the City Council or the Fresno County Board of Supervisors were allowed to sit on the CCSPCA Board of Directors, they would most certainly begin asking questions about some of the things that any Fresno County resident with a computer, Internet access and a curious nature can easily discover for themselves.

What's going on in this building - and why did it cost $50,000 to $75,000 a year?