Today’s Taxpayer News!
Robotic harvest: The Department of Agriculture has awarded more than $1.1 million of taxpayer money to the University of California, Davis in order to develop robots that would help harvest strawberries. A professor from UC Davis explained the project, ““It is a harvest aid robot. It is aiding the harvesters, so it’s not a machine that is harvesting or picking berries itself.” Read more at CNS News.
Tax mess: The Hawaii Department of Taxation is under investigation for numerous instances of waste and mismanagement. Infractions included wasting taxpayer dollars on old technology, employees illegally accessing records, and fraudulent contracts. More details on Watchdog Wire.
Subsidized boom: Amid record demand for residential expansion in Cincinnati, an analysis from WCPO shows that taxpayers have subsidized 41 percent of the boom in development. This included millions spent on “tax abatements, capital grants, free land and forgivable debt.”