By Jon Ortiz in The Sacramento Bee

May 23, 2016

The cost of new and renewed office leases by California’s business-tax-collection agency increased nearly eightfold in the last five years – even though the number of people who make office visits to the department fell by nearly half.

State data analyzed by The Sacramento Bee show the Board of Equalization’s cost for those rental agreements grew from $691,000 in 2010-11 to $5.3 million last year. The money paid leases for 16 offices with some degree of public contact, including two new facilities.