Editorial

Michigan Treasury Erroneously Sent Out a $14.5 Million Check

Company's corporate subsidy check was doubled

The Michigan Department of Treasury erroneously sent a $14.5 million check to a company in 2016. The money was almost certainly part of the $672.8 million in secret corporate welfare checks the state expects to send to favored businesses in the current fiscal year. In this instance, the Treasury Department doubled what the company was supposed to get.

That was a finding of an audit released in March done by the Office of the Auditor General.

After the mistake was uncovered, it took the Treasury Department three months to resolve the issue, according to the audit.

“The duplicate refund did not result in a loss of resources to the State because the taxpayer did not attempt to deposit the warrant,” the audit read.

The department responded that it had taken the appropriate steps to prevent duplicate refunds being issued again.

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.