Michigan Supreme Court: State must disclose value of tax credits issued to GM
LANSING – The state must disclose the amounts of tax credits issued to General Motors under a 2016 agreement, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in a case that could impact other requests for similar information under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act.
The unanimous decision reverses earlier rulings by both the Michigan Court of Appeals and the Michigan Court of Claims, which said the amounts of the tax credits were confidential and could be redacted from a state response to a FOIA request.
David Sole, a Detroit resident, requested the information through FOIA from the Michigan Economic Development Corp.
The state agency responded to Sole's request by providing him with its 2016 agreement with GM related to tax credits, but redacting the amount of the "tax credit cap," or the total amount GM was eligible to receive under the agreement.
The MEDC said the amount of the tax credits was exempt from disclosure under the Michigan Strategic Fund Act, which says the state does not have to disclose records or data related to financial or proprietary information submitted by an applicant for tax credits. The value of the credits was calculated using financial or proprietary information submitted by GM, making those numbers exempt, the MEDC said.
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But the Supreme Court pointed to another section of the same law, which sets out exceptions to the exemption relied upon by the MEDC. Excluded from the broad exemption the MEDC relied on is any document setting out an agreement to which the Michigan Strategic Fund is a party. The entire document is subject to disclosure, not just select parts of it, the court ruled.
The state has issued billions in such credits to GM and other corporations.
“The Michigan Press Association is pleased that the Michigan Supreme Court is protecting transparency,” said Lisa McGraw, public affairs manager for the Michigan Press Association, which signed on to an amicus brief in the case filed by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
“The taxpayers of Michigan are well served when they can access information about how much of their money is being spent and why.”
James Hohman, director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center, said offering subsidies to select companies is “ineffective at creating jobs, unfair to companies that don’t get special deals and expensive to the state budget.”
Elizabeth Winter, a spokeswoman for GM, said the company is "reviewing the court’s opinion and will work with MEDC to ensure requirements are met."
Otie McKinley, a spokesman for the MEDC, said the agency's attorneys were reviewing the decision and he had no immediate comment.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan Supreme Court says tax credits issued to GM must be disclosed
