OK, I am still looking for any "official" information, but here is the story:
Apple has not paid their property taxes in a long time because they are disputing the value of their property. Fine. Real estate has taken a nose dive, but their property is still worth MILLIONS! They refuse to pay until the county appraises their property at the value Apple wants which is significantly lower than the market value according to the county. To garner support for its position, Apple has been contacting all of the businesses around them (power in numbers), and basically getting them to not pay until they get a property appraisal that they (the companies) deem is fair to them.
Some of you may be familiar with where Apple is located and it is one of the most prime pieces of real estate in the south bay and possibly Silicon Valley. Read: VERY EXPENSIVE!
OK, why should I care?
The wife works at a school located in the county where Apple is and the property taxes they are supposed to pay helps fund the school system (one of the better ones in the bay area too). The SO was told yesterday that her district is going to have to lay off 500 teachers because the funding is not there due to Apple and several other companies refusing to pay taxes.
WTF! Apple? You make Billions of dollars and cannot pay a few million in taxes?!?!
NEVER will I buy any of your products. Pay up slouchers!
OK, thanks for reading my rant.
If anyone can find the story, let me know or post a link. I will post it if I find it too.