Ivy League, Inc. – $168 Million in Congressional “Bailout” for Covid-19 Relief

March 29, 2021

The Ivy League colleges received $168 million in coronavirus “bailout” money from Congress despite having over $140 billion in their endowments.

The recently-passed $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid bill included (in section 2003) about $39.6 billion for higher education institutions. There was $36 billion for nearly 3,500 public and private, nonprofit colleges and universities; approximately $395.8 million for about 1,630 for-profit institutions; and nearly $3 billion reserved for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and other minority serving institutions, according to the American Council on Education (ACE).

According to Campus Reform, the Ivies are “among the biggest winners” in the bill, even though some of their endowments are larger than some countries’ gross domestic product.

Using ACE’s estimates, Campus Reform predicts Uncle Sam will pay Ivy League institutions a collective $168.2 million in the latest round of COVID-relief funding: 

• Cornell University- $33 million, (Endowment: $7.2 billion)  
• Columbia University- $32.9 million (Endowment: $11.26 billion)  
• University of Pennsylvania- $26.3 million (Endowment: $14.9 billion)  
• Harvard University- $25.4 million (Endowment: $41.9 billion)  
• Yale University- $17.3 million (Endowment: $31.2 billion)  
• Brown University- $12.5 million (Endowment: $4.7 billion)  
• Princeton University- $12.1 million (Endowment: $26.6 billion)  
• Dartmouth College- $8.7 million (Endowment: $6 billion)

OpenTheBooks.com auditors previously sourced $41.59 billion to Ivy League colleges (FY2010-FY2015) in various forms of government (taxpayer) benefits, payments or advantaged tax treatment. We said maybe Congress should tax the Ivies.

Who would have guessed the Ivies would be taxing us instead.

 

 

 

50 Richest Towns Get $100 Million From Congress for Coronavirus “Bailout”

March 30, 2021

When do the phrases “richest places in America” and “COVID bailout” go together?

In the new $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 that President Joe Biden just signed into law.

Buried on page 220 of the 242-page bill is a $350 billion bailout for 50 states, tribal governments, U.S. territories, and more than 30,000 cities and counties.

Drilling down, our auditors at OpenTheBooks.com found that the 50 richest places (as listed by Bloomberg) will receive $100 million in COVID-19 bailout funds.

Atherton, CA, in Silicon Valley’s backyard, listed as the wealthiest city in America with an average household income of $525,000, will receive $1.3 million.

Scarsdale, NY—the richest place on the East Coast, and second wealthiest in the nation—will receive $2 million in COVID “relief.”

Hillsborough, CA (thid richest), with a median home price of $5.8 million, gets $2.1 million from U.S. taxpayers.

The richest town in Texas, Highland Park (#7), with 9,000 residents and a median home price of $1.4 million (home to Dallas Cowboys’ owner, Jerry Jones, and the Bush family), gets $2 million.

Palm Beach, FL (#18) is not left out of Uncle Sam’s largess, getting $3.7 million.

Congress put very few restrictions on the funds, they just have to be distributed quickly (see page 228). Even Beverly Hills, CA is receiving $6.2 million.

Remember, it is your money.

Lookup your hometown on our interactive map. Just click a pin (state) and scroll down to lookup your community in the chart beneath the map.

 

 

 

 

Baltimore City Public Schools Spent $1.4 Billion Budget and Promoted Student with 0.13 GPA

March 31, 2021

Recently, a Baltimore mom learned her high school senior had a 0.13 GPA, yet ranked 62/120 in his class. The student had flunked all but three classes during his first three years of high school.

How could this student be ranked in the middle of his class? Project Baltimore and the local FOX 45 News published the findings.

So, our auditors at OpenTheBooks.com investigated the district finances. Here’s what we found:

The district ran on a $1.4 billion budget for only 78,000 students – at a cost of $18,000 per pupil. Maryland state taxpayers ($857 million), federal taxpayers ($5.4 million), and a small share of local taxpayers ($287.3 million) funded it.

Then, there was the federal coronavirus funding for Baltimore schools. During 2020, $85 million flowed into the district from the CARES Act. Still, the schools did not open for classroom learning.

For Baltimore City Public School employees, it paid to be virtual. Baltimore spent more than half a billion dollars last year on payroll, $648.5 million.

In fact, 1,255 BCPS employees earned over $100,000 in 2020. The top 20 highest earners collectively made $5.5 million last year.

Baltimore is the fifth largest school district in the country and spends approximately $18,000 per student each year.

 

 

 

 

EPA Spent $92 Million on High-End Luxury Furniture

April 01, 2021

Throwback Thursday! 

From our investigation published at Forbes... we all missed the memo in high school: being a lifeguard in California can be unbelievably lucrative. If we had only known, many of us would have packed our bags and headed west for a career on a California beach.

Our auditors at OpenTheBooks.com found that lifeguards make a fortune in Los Angeles County. Seven lifeguards made more than $300,000 and 82 lifeguards had total earnings that exceeded $200,000 in 2019, the latest year available.

Fernando Boiteux was the most highly paid and earned $391,971. As the “acting chief lifeguard,” he out-earned 1,000 of his peers: salary ($205,619), perks ($60,452), and benefits ($125,900).

The second highest paid, Captain Daniel Douglas, pulled down $140,706 in base pay, and a whopping $131,493 in overtime pay, with $21,760 in “other pay” and $74,709 in benefits. Total compensation amounted to $368,668.

Overtime pay drove earnings into corporate executive range.

Thirty-one lifeguards made between $50,000 and $131,493 in overtime during the year. For example, Daniel Douglas (comp: $368,668; overtime: $131,493), Jaro Snopek (comp: $292,455; overtime: $119,669) and James Orr (comp: $281,270; overtime: $113,015) each made over $100,000 in overtime alone.

However, not all lifeguards in LA earn big money…

We found 332 pool lifeguards in LA County, but the highest paid “senior pool lifeguard” made only $46,997, including pay and benefits.

It pays to be on the beach.

Our auditors at OpenTheBooks.com compiled these numbers from Freedom of Information Act requests as well as benefit data listed at Transparent California.

The #WasteOfTheDay is presented by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.