Many members take great pride in paying their tithing first, no matter what. What this article left out was that no tithe paying member would ever be allowed to have their power shut off or not have food or other important necessities.
The church has and will provide food and even pay important bills for members if they need it. I have worked in bookkeeping at our local Ward and personally seen large checks for mortgage parents, electric bills, and even medical bills for needy members or members that were otherwise just going through a financial rough spot.
I should also add that this aid is not predicated on paying tithing or not. But local leadership does have to make decisions about whether the request for help is sincere and I would imagine being a faithful tithe paying member makes you more likely to receive help.
As for the rest of the article, I think there are definitely some transparency issues and maybe even some misleading statements from some leaders about how tithe money is used. But I don't think anyone was led to believe that the church is spending most of what is taken in.
The church has always had grand expansion plans. I would expect any organization with such plans to stockpile a war chest.