Dear editor:

The March 31 editorial about legislation pertaining to legal notices needs to have another perspective so readers can hear from both sides of the issue. The Michigan Townships Association (MTA) strongly supports the good government reforms being offered in the bipartisan package of bills, HB 4117, HB 4319 and HBs 4474-77. The legislation would enable Michigan cities and townships to post legal notices in alternative media, other than in a local newspaper, at a great savings to the taxpayers.
While the cost for an individual township may seem small for publishing these legal notices, the MTA estimates that $10 million is spent statewide every year by township governments to publish these notices.
These bills provide flexibility in how legal notices are publicized in their community whether it is through the use of websites or in other media, such as a government-operated radio or television broadcast.
Newspaper circulation continues to drop as more and more people are getting their information on-line.  People rely on websites and other mediums such as TV and radio as their news source, which are also posting news online. Newspapers admit that they are putting more items online as well, so MTA asks, why shouldn’t townships do so as well?
The effort behind this legislative package does not intend to take away transparency or remove information about local governments from the broad public view, as your editorial professes. In fact, this legislative package will bring cost savings and efficiencies for local governments while putting public notices across multiple mediums to reach a broader public.
MTA realizes there are some areas of Michigan that are underserved related to high-speed Internet service. MTA supports language being added to the package that says that any resident that wants to receive the public notices via U.S. mail can do so for no cost to them.
Newspapers are a very valuable resource for citizens. Unfortunately, local governments continue to explore all options to save taxpayer dollar and this is an area where we can reduce our costs while still providing essential services.

David Bertram
MTA Legislative Team Leader