Secretary Of State Stops Payment To New Web Site Company

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 05/20/2025) The Michigan Department of State (MDOS) and Tyler Technologies “won’t sleep” until the Michigan Transparency Network (MiTN) for campaign, candidate and personal finance filings meets the department’s standards, said Tina Anderson, MDOS chief of staff.

Before a joint meeting between the House Oversight Committee and its Subcommittee on General Government, Anderson apologized on behalf of Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson for the let-downs to filers and the public when trying to access the new system. 

Anderson said the department has paused payments on the $9.3 million contract to Tyler Technologies until a satisfactory product is provided.

MI Department of State testifies over struggles to replace MERTS the Michigan Electronic Reporting and Tracking System

Later in committee, Rep. Dylan Wegela (D-Garden City) said Tyler Technologies had a 14 percent profit margin, and so he thinks it’s reasonable for the state to ask for a refund. Tyler Technologies Chief Administrative Officer Abby DIAZ said there is no conversation about refunds. There are conversations about providing “additional services at no additional cost to the state.”

The Plano, Texas-based firm has offices in 17 states., per their website. Their Michigan office is on Long Lake Road in Troy.

Anderson told the panel that MiTN replaced the Michigan Electronic Reporting and Tracking System (MERTS), described as an antiquated system that was difficult to update and needed to be replaced.

A Request for Proposal (RFP) was issued by MDOS in July 2022 and two companies submitted bids, one of them being Tyler Technologies. However, the other bid did not meet security or legal requirements and so the contract was awarded to Tyler Technologies.

In Nov. 2023, the Legislature passed implementation legislation for personal finance disclosure laws approved by voters under Proposal 1 of 2022. An interim filing system for personal finance was launched in March 2024 and a staggered, four-month launch of MiTN software started in December 2024 for lobbying filings, continued in March 2025 for committee filings, and ended in April 2025 when the permanent personal finance disclosure portal launched. 

Several legislators cited articles about lawsuits filed against Tyler Technologies, which Diaz said multiple times were inaccurate. 

“You can’t trust everything you read just because it’s printed in a news outlet on the Internet,” Diaz said.

“You also can’t trust everything you hear from someone who works for a for-profit corporation that is defending themselves,” Wegela said. 

Rep. Matt Maddock (R-Milford) at one point asserted that Anderson, Diaz and Thomas all work for the state and made a motion to fire all three of them. Anderson said she works for the people of the state of Michigan, which didn’t stop Rep. Steve Cara (R-Three Rivers) from seconding the motion. 

Tuesday’s committee followed the passage of SB 99 and SB 100 that passed the House and received an affirmative concurrence vote in the Senate last week that pushed back the statutory reporting deadline by a month and allowed filers to submit via email using a PDF form.

“It took me longer to try and figure out the failing SOS website than it took either Secretary Benson or I to run the London Marathon last month,” Rep. Bill G. Schuette (R-Midland) told MIRS upon passage of the bills.

Anderson said there are members of the committee that successfully filed with MiTN, and that there are only about 30 legislators that even tried to submit filings that were originally due on May 15. DeBoyer asked if that was an implication that MiTN is working, and Anderson said if you go to the website today, you can submit a filing and see filings that have been submitted.

DeBoyer said he’s asking Benson and her office to appear before the committee on June 24 and will send a formal letter to notify her.