Imus Ranch under investigation

Radio star Don Imus's ranch for sick children is reportedly under investigation by New York's attorney general.

The Wall Street Journal says the problem is that the Imus Ranch in New Mexico has a $2.6 million annual budget while hosting a total of 100 children every year for nine-day stays. Imus and his wife and son are usually at the ranch when the children are there and also at Thanksgiving, Christmas and other off-season occasions.

The Journal reports that Attorney General Eliot Spitzer interviewed Imus earlier this year about the operation.

The local tax assessor ruled in 2000, soon after the ranch opened, that only 55 percent of the property should be exempt from local property taxes because it was only used for part of the year for charitable purposes and includes a large apartment for the Imuses.

Imus has donated $1 million of his own money to the ranch in addition to raising money from celebrities like Barbara Walters and Rudolph Giuliani. He says that when he and his wife are at the ranch they are working with the children or doing chores necessary to keeping the operation going.

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