Michigan FOIA fee calculator
Builds the detailed itemization of the six statutory fee components under MCL 15.234, in the order the statute lists them. It also applies the conditions most worksheets leave out: the procedures-and-guidelines bar, the unreasonably-high-costs test that gates both labor components, the two situations where redaction labor cannot be charged at all, and the conditions that have to be met before a late response reduces the fee.
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Before any fee at all
MCL 15.234(1), (4). A body that has not done all three "shall not require deposits or charge fees otherwise permitted under this act until it is in compliance."
The condition on both labor components
MCL 15.234(3). This gates component (a) AND component (b). Unchecked, neither may be charged.
(a) Labor: searching, locating, examining
0 increments
Lowest-paid employee capable of the work in the particular instance, regardless of whether that person is available or who actually performs it. 15-minute increments, partial increments rounded down.
(b) Labor: separating and deleting exempt information
MCL 15.234(1)(b) and (5). Either one bars all charges under (b).
Cap is 6 x minimum wage.
Michigan minimum wage was $13.73 on 1 January 2026, rising to $15.00 in 2027. Update this if the rate has changed.
0 increments
(c) Nonpaper physical media
Actual and most reasonably economical cost of the media itself.
(d) Paper copies
Maximum is $0.10 per sheet on 8-1/2 x 11 or 8-1/2 x 14.
Not including labor, which is component (e). Use double-sided printing where it saves money.
(e) Labor: duplication or publication
0 increments
Increments here are the body's choosing, still rounded down. This component is not gated by the unreasonably-high-costs test.
(f) Mailing
No charge for expedited shipping or insurance unless the requester asked for it.
Fringe benefits multiplier
Applied to components (a), (b) and (e).
MCL 15.234(2). Not a seventh component. Maximum 50%, and never more than actual fringe cost. Overtime is excluded unless the requester stipulated it.
Late response
No reduction.
MCL 15.234(9)(a). Being late is not enough on its own. One of these two must also be true.
Waivers and reductions
MCL 15.234(2)(a). Either box makes the individual ineligible.
MCL 15.234(2)(b).
Deposit
Those are: the prior final fee was within 105% of the estimate; the records contained what was sought and are still held; they were made available within the estimated time frame; 90 days have passed since notice; the individual cannot show proof of payment; and a detailed itemization supports the increased deposit.
MCL 15.234(8), (11), (12). Otherwise the deposit is up to one half where the estimate exceeds $50.00.
Detailed itemization of fees
Freedom of Information Act · MCL 15.234
This is not legal advice. The calculator implements MCL 15.234 as read from the Act text on 13 August 2026. Your public body's own written procedures and guidelines govern what you may actually charge, and the statute is the authority, not this page. Read it at legislature.mi.gov and check any figure before it goes out.
One place the statute is genuinely ambiguous. On contracted redaction labor it says "Total labor costs calculated under this subdivision for contracted labor costs must not exceed an amount equal to 6 times the state minimum hourly wage rate." Read as an hourly ceiling that is $82.38 an hour. Read as a total, it is $82.38 for the whole request. This tool applies the hourly reading, which is the common practice, and shows you the other figure so you can decide. Fringe is not applied to contracted labor here, because the statute caps fringe at the body's actual fringe cost and a contractor incurs none.