The Michigan Constitution disallows a township from making expenditures unless it has specific authorization. Townships are granted explicit statutory powers and those “fairly implied and not prohibited.” Art.

Michigan townships are statutory units of government. Township Authorization to Expend Public Funds For instance, can the township provide a lunch reception for an honor the township received for an outstanding water system or a new park? Similarly, are there issues with providing repairs to a township-owned building that is being used by another association for less than market rent? This E-Letter discusses the multiple factors that determine whether an expenditure is lawful to help provide townships a set of questions to use for considering whether an expenditure is lawful. Yet, there are other expenditures that arise in the normal operation of a township that routinely raise questions about whether they are appropriate. Many of these public expenditures are clearly lawful, such as purchasing a fire truck or paying the hourly wage of township employees.

Townships operate according to their annual appropriations resolution, from spending public funds to providing public services.

Definition of township