Grand Blanc Township Faces Scrutiny Over $164,000 FOIA Fees Following Fire Department Controversy

Controversy over FOIA costs deepens as questions grow about fire station staffing, resident safety and government transparency in Grand Blanc Township.

Independent journalist Anna Matson is challenging Grand Blanc Township after the municipality issued more than $160,000 in Freedom of Information Act fees connected to her investigation into fire department staffing and the administrative leave of the township’s fire chief.

Matson said her reporting began the day of the October shooting and arson in Grand Blanc Township, where she arrived as one of the first journalists on the scene. Living in a neighboring community, she said she personally knows many of the firefighters who responded that day, which pushed her to continue following the situation as questions grew about staffing levels.

I rely on paid subscribers to keep my independent journalism going. For less than $1 per week you can keep my work going. Giving you stories the legacy media won’t.

According to Matson, one of the township’s two fire stations routinely closes overnight due to staffing shortages, raising concerns about slower response times and higher insurance costs for residents. As community members began contacting her with questions, she filed several FOIA requests seeking emails and communications involving the township superintendent, the fire chief, and other employees.

Those requests resulted in strikingly high fees:

• $100,000 for emails between the superintendent and the fire chief

• $64,000 for broader communications involving several township employees

• $13 for the superintendent’s contract, though the township withheld communication with its PR firm, citing attorney-client privilege

Under Michigan’s FOIA law, public bodies may charge only the “actual, reasonable, and necessary” cost of locating and producing records, using the lowest-paid qualified employee. Matson said the township’s estimates violate both the letter and spirit of the law and noted that attorney review cannot legally be billed.

Township Supervisor Scott Bennett has defended the charges in other media interviews, calling the requests broad and saying they would require searching communications for more than 200 township employees. He said most FOIA requests the township receives cost less than $75 and argued Matson’s filings were unusually large. He also said the township offered her the option to narrow the requests.

Matson disputes that, saying she has had no such communication from Bennett and that the township is improperly using attorney-client privilege to shield records. She also expressed concern that some employees have begun copying the township attorney on routine emails, a move she believes is designed to place otherwise public records behind a legal wall.

Matson has filed a formal cost appeal with the Grand Blanc Township Board, which now has ten days to decide whether to uphold or reduce the fees. She said she is prepared to take the matter to court if the township denies the appeal.

“When we back down, that’s when government stays corrupt,” Matson said. “The community deserves the truth, and our first responders deserve transparency.”