Documentary on dark stores issue premieres

MARQUETTE — Another chapter in the dark stores issue took place at Peter White Public Library tonight.

An overwhelming crowd of curious citizens gathered for the premiere of a documentary put together by NMU professor, Dwight Brady and a staff of fourteen students. The night and the documentary, entitled Boxed In, were set-up to help people understand the situation at hand.

“The dark stores issue can be summed up this way. It’s a big tax giveaway to big corporate retailers in the state of Michigan,” explained Fred Kotler, a co-chair for the Marquette Citizens for Fair Share, “It’s a big fire sale on taxes, and it’s causing millions to local governments. And money’s accumulating; public treasuries are being drained out in refunds to these big companies.”

The documentary was put together because the issue might seem complex on the surface, but Kotler says it’s simpler than it appears.

“You’ve got a situation here where high-priced lawyers sold a bill of goods to the Michigan Tax Tribunal, they bought those goods, and consequently, money in public treasuries has been flowing out to pad the bottom line of big companies. It’s one thing for them to make their money through legitimate sales, but it’s quite something else for them to pad their bottom line by draining money out of public treasuries,” Kotler further added.

The Marquette Citizens for Fair Share make it their goal to inform the community of what’s happening so that action can be taken to make changes.