密苏里州审计长 10 月 26 日启动调查，查圣路易斯县房产税申诉流程
密苏里州圣路易斯县消息，密苏里州审计长斯科特·菲茨帕特里克 10 月 26 日在州府杰斐逊城宣布，审计长办公室已启动对圣路易斯县均等委员会房产税申诉流程的调查。此前有举报人反映，圣路易斯县的申诉流程不公平，甚至可能违法，审计长办公室因此介入。举报人指出，该县实行双委员会制度，申诉案件如何分流到两个委员会、以及其中一个委员会以明显更高的比例作出有利于纳税人的裁决，是调查的重点。菲茨帕特里克表示，申诉流程的存在是为了保护业主免受不公平或过高的估值，流程必须符合县法和州法，对纳税人公平。审计长办公室已致函均等委员会索取资料，包括分流到各委员会的申诉数量与类型、分流标准的确定方式，以及全部申诉结果的记录。调查期间，知情者可通过审计长办公室的举报热线保密提供信息，调查结论以官方公布为准。
Missouri State Auditor Launches Investigation on October 26 into St. Louis County Property Tax Appeals Process
St. Louis County, Missouri — Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick announced in the state capital, Jefferson City, on October 26 that the Auditor's Office has launched an investigation into the St. Louis County Board of Equalization's property tax appeals process. The office intervened after a whistleblower reported that the county's appeals process is unfair and may even be unlawful. The whistleblower pointed to the county's two-board system, and how appeals cases are routed between the two boards — and how one board rules in taxpayers' favor at a markedly higher rate — as a focus of the investigation. Fitzpatrick said the appeals process exists to protect property owners from unfair or excessive assessments, and that the process must comply with county and state law and be fair to taxpayers. The Auditor's Office has written to the Board of Equalization requesting records, including the number and types of appeals routed to each board, how the routing criteria are determined, and records of all appeal outcomes. During the investigation, anyone with information may provide it confidentially through the Auditor's Office whistleblower hotline, and the findings will be as officially announced.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0，Farragutful
