Inquiry targets Anchorage Baptist Temple’s (ABT’s) tax exemptions

It appears that ABT’s claimed “tax exempt” status may have been fraudulent. For details, read the Anchorage Daily News account at http://www.adn.com/2012/01/14/2264456/inquiry-targets-church-tax-exemptions.html

Now we at Citizens for Ethical Government are wondering if ABT’s lengthy list of tax exempt automobiles shouldn’t also be under investigation. When license plates begin with a Y, that means they are tax exempt.

Click  Prevo’s Plates to view a list of over fifty tax exempt automobile license plates that are current and registered to ABT. In addition, see approximately thirty expired exempt plates registered to ABT.

With a municipal election coming up, I think the public deserves to know if Prevo’s apparent real property tax fraud is being investigated or swept under the rug to appease Prevo’s right wing voters..

On a related matter, when Clyde Baxley and I were first investigating Prevo’s exempt housing, we noted that Prevo’s first lieutenant Glenn Clary had left the church and the state. Simultaneous with Clary’s departure, the house the church had just finished and moved Mr. Clary into was sold.

Clyde and I consequently raised the question; if the home had been built to house a church employ, why wasn’t it being kept for Mr. Clary’s replacement? Could it be that Mr. Clary was expecting the equity to leave the state with him? Was it because the house didn’t really belong to the church as stated and required to get the exemption?

We raised these questions at the time, but just like the questions we raised about Veco, Bill Allen, and Ben Stevens the state came to the defense of the offender. Strange considering how much energy the state has been willing to spend shackling a young boy with a felony for painting a few murals and a 70 something back woods hermit for feeding the bears.

To see the list of exempt plates, click here…Prevo’s Plates

Ray Metcalfe 907-344-4514

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, took another step in her battle against the Environmental Protection Agency, introducing language in a spending bill that would transfer some of the agency’s air-permitting authority to the Interior Department in hopes of accelerating Alaska’s offshore oil and gas development.

Read the full story: http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/murkowski-aims-transfer-epas-air-permitting-clout

Mr. Young was accused of accepting 12 contributions of $5,000 to his legal expense fund from the same donor.”

Read the full story here: http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2011/dec/20/house-ethics-panel-clears-young/

Another crooked lawmaker cleared by Ethics Committee, says watchdog group

“In other words, this lawmaker violated House rules in his effort to defend himself in a bribery case involving Alaska’s ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ fiasco,” said political strategist Mike Baker.

http://www.examiner.com/law-enforcement-in-national/another-crooked-lawmaker-cleared-by-ethics-committee-says-watchdog-group

The immensity of this moment – and the potential reverberations this ruling could have – cannot be overstated, for Montana’s highest court has provided a blueprint for how other states can contravene the Citizens United decision in state and local elections.

Read the full article at http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/12/31/1050271/-MONTANA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Read the full article by Carey Restino | The Arctic Sounder at
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/big-margins-point-lay-nuiqsut-gave-brower-lead-north-slope-election

Alaskans have been repeatedly told that Alaska’s newly enacted oil taxes are far higher than most of the world’s oil producing countries. Don’t be fooled. Below are the tax rates of twenty-five countries that retain a much greater share of the profits from their oil than we Alaskans and the Federal Government combined retain from ours. The %# indicated is the % of the net revenue kept by governments after all expenses of production and transportation have been deducted from the gross. From a $100 barrel, Alaska and the federal government take 73% of net in taxes and/or royalty.

Below are articles by respected publishers from around the world who expose the fact that BP, ConocoPhillips and Exxon produce oil for their clients in other countries for a lot less than they would have Alaskans believe it should cost.
Most of Alaska’s media, probably in fear of losing advertising revenues from BP and ConocoPhillips, have avoided the issue of how Alaska’s oil taxes and oil profit opportunities compare to those in other countries.
Without comparisons, thousands of voters lack the proper tools to assess the fairness of Alaska’s oil tax known as Alaska’s Clear and Equitable Share or ACES.

Below find:
Bloomberg Business & Financial News: “London-based BP’s report on an 18 percent world-wide average return on capital last year”……………………Page 37.
Gaffney and Cline: an internationally respected oil consultant estimates BP’s North Slope investment returns at 123% Page 39.
Business Week: BP produces Iraq’s oil in exchange for costs plus a service fee of $2 a barrel…….Page 24 &25.
Bloomberg Financial: BP’s CEO says “BP’s returns on BP’s $2 per barrel contract with Iraq is consistent with their international average of 15 to 20 percent”..Page 36
In 2009, BP made $28 per barrel from Alaska’s oil for a net profit return on investment of approximately 123% … Articles on..Pages 8 and on 38 & 39.
Petroleum News: Predicts North Slope booms! “Alaska’s upcoming North Slope drilling season is shaping up to be busiest in decades” ……….. Page …40

Please read, download and share the PDF with the complete story here:

http://citizens4ethics.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Iraqi-Clips-Petroleum-News-ADN.pdf

This brochure document was researched and prepared by Ray Metcalfe and paid for by Citizens for Ethical Government. The same people who exposed Veco for bribing Alaska’s Legislators. P.O. Box 231007 Anchorage AK 99523 Phone 907-344-4514. We authorize anyone may reprint and distribute this brochure.

Read the four news articles below and the report that started the whole ball rolling:

(1) King of Fish Sticks. By Laura Onstot Seattle Weekly November 18, 2008:
•The story about how Chuck Bundrant built a seafood empire on “trash” fish–with a little help from U.S. Senator Ted Stevens.

(2) Ben’s Bribes in a NutShell (PDF). By Ray Metcalfe June 20, 2006
•Ben’s Bribes in a NutShell details how the recipients of Ted Stevens’ earmarks kicked nearly one million dollars back to Ted Stevens’ son threw an elaborate scheme of grants and bogus consulting fees.
•Ben Stevens was the President of the Alaska State Senate at the time. Had it not been for the information exposed by Ray Metcalfe, Steve Taufen, and Victor Smith explained in these articles, Ben Stevens would have probably succeeded his father in the U.S. Senate just like Lisa Murkowski succeeded hers. The only thing that would have changed would be the number of zeros on the kickbacks.

(3) FBI Investigating Stevens’ Fishing Bills (WORD.doc) By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2007 (10-30) 13:53 PDT WASHINGTON (AP)

(4) Seattle processors subpoenaed in seafood inquiry By Hal Bernton Seattle Times Saturday, December 16, 2006.

Read more: http://www.adn.com/2011/02/06/1687451/weyhrauch-again-tries-to-move.html