Township gets public info, taxpayers get bill

GRANT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) -- A township's lawsuit over getting public documents from Michigan state government has cost taxpayers nearly $11,000. Grant Township in Clare County sued after the State Tax Commission refused to turn over records to explain why the local assessor's office got a poor review in 2009. Attorney William Fahey says the Tax Commission insisted the information was top secret, so he filed a lawsuit. Fahey says the case lasted months before a new assistant attorney general was assigned to it. By late March, he says the state settled by paying $10,800 in legal bills and fulfilling the public records request. It amounted to just four pages. The Treasury Department says the case was settled based on advice from the attorney general's office. The township is 75 miles northeast of Grand Rapids. Published: Wed, Jun 22, 2011