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essentialTOPtempProposed Compensation Schrock2015_ad_twocitiesPackages Spark Criticism of DIA
(C. Proxmire, Aug. 28, 2015)
Proposed financial compensation for top administration at the Detroit Institute of Arts has some elected officials raising not only their eyebrows, but also their voices.
Oakland County Commissioner John Scott, a Republican from Waterford, has submitted a resolution to have the additional compensation blocked. The resolution was sent to the General Governance Detroit_GT_05Committee.
According to The Detroit News “DIA officials have presented county art authorities with a compensation package of $625,185 for three top executives. The compensation include a $285,000 retirement severance and forgiveness of a $155,832 housing loan for Beal, who left the museum June 30.” A DIA official told The Detroit News that a private fund would be used to pay all but $49,000 of it.
In 2012 voters in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne Counties approved a 0.10 regional millage to fund the museum, which accounts for 70% of the DIA’s budget.DDAnew01
In 2013 the DIA was criticized for paying $90,000 in bonuses and the museum board ended up repaying the money with private donor funds, the report stated. That same year the Oakland County Commission threatened to pull funding if any of the art was sold.
State Representatives Ken Goike and Jim Runestad are proposing legislation that would make the DIA subject to Freedom of Information Act rules. The DIA is a private nonprofit and is therefore not subject to FOIA, however the Representatives contend that if they are receiving public funds they should have the same transparency requirements as governmental entities.
Read what both sides had to say, and more details at The Detroit News.
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