Lawsuit Claims State Shorting Locals By Billions

Lawsuit seeks to raise the level of interest in the needs of local governments.

Michigan state capitol building

Jake Neher/WDET

Michigan has been short-changing cities, towns, and counties four billion dollars a year. That’s according to a new lawsuit against the state filed by public interest attorneys and local government officials. They say this has been happening for more than two decades.

If the lawsuit is successful that money would go a long way toward helping local units of government, which have been struggling for a long time here in Michigan. But it would also send public officials in Lansing scrambling to fix a massive budget hole.

The lawsuit is also important in “raising the level of interest in the… needs of local governments,” says John Mogk, professor of law at Wayne State University.

To hear more of Mogk’s conversation about the lawsuit on Detroit Today, click on the audio player above.

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