NEW YORK, May 25 (UPI) -- The Internal Revenue Service and state regulators are taking a new, hard look at how much officials of nonprofit groups are being paid.
The renewed interest in top-level compensation came partly in response to the recent wave of corporate scandals and growing anger about steep executive pay. And, it follows a lawsuit in which the state of New York is trying to force Dick Grasso, the ousted head of the New York Stock Exchange, to return part of his $200 million retirement package.
Steve T. Miller, director of the IRS's exempt-organizations division, told the Wall Street Journal the IRS will contact hundreds of organizations about pay practices and may audit some. The agency has identified between 100 and 200 groups where an executive or board member earns more than $1 million a year.
Eighteen officials of 235 nonprofits made at least that much in 2002, according to a pay survey by the Chronicle of Philanthropy in Washington.
