Below are stories we have done covering local government issues.
2012
May
Tecumseh Official Confirms That MEA Salary Claims Not Supported
Allen Park Turns to Residents For Bad Investment Bailout
Oak Park Claims Significant Workforce Cut; Budget Says Otherwise
April
The Business Lesson of Pfizer and Ann Arbor
A Tale of Two Districts: Responding To Severe Fiscal Problems
March
Highland Park Schools Get State Bailout — Already Receive $14,000 Per Student
Overhaul Of Highland Park School District On The Horizon
Bloated Teacher Contracts Much To Blame For Issues In Highland Park, Muskegon
February
Portage Schools Turns Down $270K Savings
Detroit Could Sell Off Assets to Avoid Insolvency
Despite Deficit, Some Dearborn Top Officials Got Boosts in Pay
Earning More Than Your Boss: Dearborn Lieutenant Makes More Than Chief of Police, Mayor
January
Bay City Amends Prevailing Wage Ordinance
Muskegon Health Care Workers Get Out of SEIU
Highland Park School District: Spending Up, Revenue Up, Red Ink Up — Wants More Money
2011
December
Township Board Creates New Tax Rather Than Trim 'Ridiculously Generous' Benefits
Superintendent Uses School Email List For Politics
November
Teachers Choose Union Health Plan, Now Pay Up To 37.5 Percent of the Premium
31 Gym Teachers Earn More Than Town Police Chief
Public School District 'Strikes Out' on Criticism of Charter Public Schools
'Crying Wolf' on Teacher Layoffs
October
Physics vs. Phys Ed: Regardless of Need, Schools Pay the Same
Mythbusted: Overcrowding in Detroit Classrooms
Royal Oak Schools: Buses or Cadillac Health Care
Prediction of 'Unprecedented' School Cuts Results in Fewer Than 5 Teacher Layoffs
School District Seeking Tax Hike Challenged on Dollar Figures
ISD Denies Special Ed Services to Northern Michigan School District
Walled Lake District Tells Parents That Parental Choice Proposal Threatens Funding
A2 Schools' Union Prez and Board Member Add Up Wrong Costs For Teachers
No More 'Factory Worker' Model For Teacher Pay in Suttons Bay
September
Headlines Screamed Mass School Layoffs, Reality Tells a Different Story
School Adding Teachers on Home Turf of Lawmaker Facing Recall
Sky Not Falling on Saginaw Schools: Few Kids, More Teachers After Snyder's First Budget
Bloomfield Township Kicks the Public Pension Spending Habit
Command Cops in Sterling Heights: $119k Average Pay — Demand Labor Arbitration in Dispute with City
August
Ann Arbor Cuts Cops With $1.5 Million Surplus Sitting in Arts Budget
Oakland Officials Squabble Over Credit for County's Credit Rating
May
Ann Arbor Schools Find and Oust 200 Ineligible Dependents from District Health Plan
District Considering Year-Round Schooling
Howell School Board Bucks MEA Advice: Saves $2.9 Million and Avoids Program Cuts
Anatomy of How to Kill a Tax Hike
Clarkston Average Teacher Salary Beats Inflation by $10K Over Last Decade
L’Anse Creuse: Cuts Claimed While Spending Is Up; Teachers Pay Zero for Health Benefits
Ten Total Fires and $30K in Average Overtime
Pittsfield Township to Vote on Millage for Core Services
April
Hartland Teachers to Share in Belt-Tightening
Town Rescinds 'Unconstitutional' Tea Party Sign Ban
School District Saves $60K by Being More Transparent
Rochester Schools Reduce 6.5 to 7.5 Percent Raises by Half-Point - Declares Budget Cut
What Does the Average Teacher in Ann Arbor Really Make?
Coldwater Bans Tea Party Signs in Public Park
Bay City Public Schools Claims $24 Million Cut, Budget Continues to Grow
Unusual: For 30 Years Teachers Share Almost Half of Health Care Cost in Grand Ledge
Will the Snyder K-12 Plan Really Cause 40-Student Classrooms in Novi?
Spending Mysteries at Utica Schools
March
Rochester Schools Raise Pay, Report Cuts, and Blame Governor
Does the Lansing School District Reall Pay 'Below the Poverty Line' for Teachers?
Transparency Not Rapid For Kent Co. Transit Agency
West Michigan School Super Claims Budget Cuts - But Do the Numbers Add Up?
Decade of Cuts Is Claimed by School District Giving 14 Percent Raises Over 24 Months
Who Are the $100K-Plus Employees at the Detroit Public Schools?
Detroit Public Schools: Doubles the Number of $100K-Plus Employees From 2009 to 2010
Merit Pay Miracles at Oscoda Area Schools
February
The People Mover's Pricey Pensions
Annual Cost of Teacher Overstaffing in Detroit Could Reach $100 Million
The Media Myth of the 60-Student Detroit Classroom
The West Bloomfield Teacher 'Sick Out'
Average Eaton Rapids Teacher’s Salary $55,826 ; Contributes Just 2 Percent for Health Plan
Average Comstock Teacher Receives $53,756 in Salary, Contributes Just 5 Percent for Health Plan
Union Bosses Outsource Hostility, Hiring Beneficiaries of Entrepreneur’s Charity to Protest Him
Legal Experts Say Saline Schools Broke Campaign Finance Law
Lake Orion Teachers Health Benefits 52 Percent Above Private-Sector Average
West Bloomfield Tackles Costs With Aggressive Privatization Strategy
Teacher Pay Hikes Happen Despite Expired Union Contract
Hamtramck: Giving Raises and Going Bankrupt
"Similar 'Fiscal Malpractice' Ballot Language Used By Schools Seeking Borrowed Dollars"
January
"How Bad is Detroit's Detroitification?"
"Scheduled Saginaw Prevailing Wage Repeal Vote Quietly Killed"
"Motor City Finance: Then and Now"
2010
December
"Paid to Leave: Generous Teacher Buyouts at East Lansing Public Schools"
"The Salary History of a West Bloomfield Public School Teacher"
"Saugatuck Township Uses Zoning Laws to Thwart Private Property Rights"
November
"Lansing's $140,000 Bus Driver"
"Troy Puts Off 'Distracted Driver' Penalties"
"Jackson Considers Cutting Cops While City-Owned Pools Swim in Red Ink"
"Government Putt Putt Golf in Jackson"
October
"Sports Spending at Bloomfield Hills Schools is $285 Per Pupil"
September
"Thirty Percent of Shelby Twp. Police Salaries Exceed $90k"
"Will Troy's 'Distracted Driving' Crackdown Lead to 'Distracted Policing'?"
August
"The Six-Figure Cops of Sterling Heights"
July
"Troy Takes Texting and Driving Ban to Another Level"
"The Art of the Ann Arbor City Budget"
June
"Troy City Service Privatization Plan Rolls Forward"
May
"Google Jobs Lacking, Yet Some Locals Still Consider It a 'Badge of Honor' for Ann Arbor"
April
"Death for Ann Arbor's 'Living Wage'?"
March
"Cost-Cutting Options Written Out of Kent ISD Contract"
February
"Howell E-mail Case Raises Other Questions"
"Troy to Explore Extensive Privatization"
"Troy Voters to Decide $196-Per-Home Tax Question"
"Northville School District Resources Used for Candidate Campaign Announcement"
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.