The total cost to Livingston County’s taxpayers for former President Donald J. Trump’s Aug. 20 campaign event on Aug. 20 — a visit that has spurred two campaign finance complaints against the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Mike Murphy — has clocked in at $40,103.89.
That cost includes the widely reported $13,571 in overtime pay for personnel from the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office for increased security, as well as $26,532.89 for the half-day closure of the local court and prosecutor’s offices in the county’s West Complex. Trump’s event was held in a storage facility at the complex, located between the county court building and the Livingston County Jail.
The Trump campaign paid $1,000 to rent the storage building located at the West Complex in which the event was held.
Livingston County administrator Nathan Burd said he is not aware of any other costs to taxpayers for the event.
The Trump event has spurred the filing of two complaints alleging violation of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act, which prohibits “a public body or a person acting for a public body” from using or authorizing the use of “funds, personnel, office space, computer hardware or software, property, stationery, postage, vehicles, equipment, supplies, or other public resources” to support political candidates. The complaints are currently under investigation.
