LANSING, Mich. — The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation, on behalf of the Detroit Free Press, has filed a lawsuit against the Michigan Department of Treasury for refusing to release records related to millions in payments being provided to real estate firm Bedrock as part of a major development in downtown Detroit.
Detroit Free Press v Michigan Department of Treasury challenges the One Campus Martius expansion, a Bedrock-managed project benefiting from transformational brownfield plan incentives. Through the program, the state pays developers with a portion of the taxes generated by their projects — money that would otherwise fund schools, roads, and other public services.
The Free Press filed a Freedom of Information Act request on March 17 seeking key reports used by the state to calculate the value of these payments. These requested documents are critical to understanding how much public money is being used and whether the project is delivering the jobs and investment promised when the incentives were approved. The department denied the request in full, citing state tax confidentiality laws.
The lawsuit argues that the Michigan Constitution requires disclosure of any records involving the use of public funds, including “financial records, accountings, audit reports and other reports of public moneys.” The case asserts that this constitutional right overrides the statutory exemptions that the Treasury cited.
“The press has an important watchdog role and a responsibility to the public interest,” said JC Reindl, reporter at The Detroit Free Press. “The records we seek are critical to understanding how taxpayer dollars were used for development projects receiving subsidies and should be a matter of public record.”
“The public has a constitutional right to know how its money is being spent,” said Derk Wilcox, senior attorney at the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation. “These are not private tax filings. These are government calculations used to divert taxpayer dollars to private developers — and the public deserves transparency.”
Case documents can be found here.
