Grand Rapids stripped comptroller's authority after he questioned spending, lawsuit says
Michigan Capitol Confidential · March 23, 2026 · By Scott McClallen
The Grand Rapids city comptroller, who alleges that various other officials violated the city charter by transferring some of his duties, staffers and budget to other offices, suffered a setback last month in his lawsuit against the city commission, manager and chief financial officer.
Judge George Jay Quist of the 17th Circuit Court of Kent County ruled against comptroller Max Frantz, who asked the court to enjoin employees outside his office from performing duties previously housed in his office.
Frantz, in a lawsuit filed in December 2025, said officials violated the city charter — the rough equivalent of the city's constitution — by transferring several responsibilities from his office to the city manager and others in the executive branch. The transfer involved 13 employees and $1.3 million in funding.
The downsizing followed complaints Frantz lodged about city employees. He filed a complaint with the Michigan State Police in August 2024 saying City Manager Mark Washington had misused city funds, including a $323 restaurant bill at Bistro Bella Vita and an attempt to have the city pay an $822 restaurant bill for an organization on whose board he served.
The city rejects the accusations, saying the 2024 reorganization optimized the city's financial structure and was "rooted in good governance."
"My concern is absolutely misuse of authority," Frantz told CapCon. "These internal controls were set up for a reason. The groundwork has been laid to create that type of environment to allow for misuse of authority by concentrating all of these powers under one individual or office, which our charter doesn't authorize."
The city charter creates three divisions to manage finances: the treasurer collects city money, the city manager builds the budget, and the comptroller issues payments and provides accounting to the public. Grand Rapidians have rejected structural changes in 1969, 1971 and 2012.
"The lawsuit aims to restore the separation of powers that's provided for under the city charter," said Nicholas Gumina, an attorney at Eardley Law offices representing Frantz. "The separation of powers, at its core, is important because it creates a separate financial oversight that is not supposed to be controlled by either the executive or legislative branches of the city government."