Board Of Equalization Scrutinized For Hiring Practices

Sacramento, CA — At the state capitol, an agency that had recently overseen over $61-billion in tax collections has been stripped of its hiring authority.

The Associated Press reports that a State Personnel Board investigation found that nearly one in five employees of the Board of Equalization (BOE) was related to or living with a coworker. This past June the state legislature voted to break up the BOE after a state audit found examples of potential misuse of funding. The information in the new report was gathered prior to the recent reorganization. It noted that 835 employees, or 17.5-percent, were either related to or cohabitating with another BOE employee. The BOE will no longer oversee its own hiring, after nepotism was cited in the report. Most of the BOE’s tax collecting authority was already transferred over to a new California Department of Tax and Fee Administration over the summer.