Belle [[?) Isle...

[jt1]

Dude, there are tons of city residents who travel to the Metroparks for picnics, family reunions, water parks, biking, etc. Why? Because they are well-maintained, clean, and safe. Don't act like Detroiters are paying for something they don't use.

DO you have any numbers or stats to support that or are you making the determination of who is a 'Detroiter'.

The reality is that the closest park to Detroit is Metro Beach. Why is it that the majority of a city with 700,000-800,000 residents aren't within 10-15 miles of a park.

You are advocating telling Detroiters that they can use the parks but will just need to drive or take the bus 15-20 miles. Until HCMA invests a few dollars in Detroit [[And there are many opportunities) then it will be a net negative to the majority of tax paying city residents.

Here's a map of HCMA park locations: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Metroparks.svg

So tell me how it is sooooo easy for many Detroiters to access.

[SWMAP]

I'm not understanding your point. Most people have to drive to Belle Isle as they do to any of the Metro Parks. The point of the metro parks is they are all on the water. If the water is far away from somebody then they have to drive or use the bus.
There are other parks in every community even Detroit. They aren't as nice though usually.

[hudkina]

Why do you keep insinuating that every Detroit resident is poor and can't afford to drive a car? It's very belittling...

I work with dozens of people that live in the city. My work is only a couple of miles from three Metroparks. My work has a picnic every year at one of those parks. Believe it or not, the workers who reside in Detroit do come out to those picnics, and they do pay the $5 entrance fee just like everyone else. There are plenty of times where I'll see picnics for Detroit-based churches and I've discussed with several coworkers about the various family reunions we've respectively attended at the Metroparks. Yes, my statement is purely anecdotal, but you don't really need hard evidence to know that Detroit residents visit the Metroparks.

And even still, there's a reason they're called Metroparks. They were built with the idea of attracting residents from all corners of the five counties including those who live in the city. They are and should remain a regionally funded attraction. When I voted to raise my taxes to fund the Detroit Zoo, I did so knowing that I live nearly 25 miles from the zoo and many people in my area have never even been there. Like the Metroparks, I view the Zoo [[as well as the DIA and even Belle Isle) as regional attractions that should be supported by the entire region.

[jolla]

The solution couldn't possibly be that simple. It must be cultural, socioeconomic and perhaps the result of some potion slipped into Detroit's water supply that has been diluted enough by the time it reaches outer-burb faucets so not to affect them.

I know you're being facetious, but I know a former Detroit cop who swears lead pipes cause a lot of the craziness in Detroit.

[iheartthed]

I'm not understanding your point. Most people have to drive to Belle Isle as they do to any of the Metro Parks. The point of the metro parks is they are all on the water. If the water is far away from somebody then they have to drive or use the bus.
There are other parks in every community even Detroit. They aren't as nice though usually.

But by virtue of size alone I would think that Detroit is the single largest contributor to the Metro Parks budget, so shouldn't there at least be one park run by HCMA within the city? Wouldn't Belle Isle make the most sense to be that park?

[Zackdog]

I fyou think that's bad, watch for when they casually toss their fast-food wrappers out of their car window.

[Zackdog]

Precisely. The island could look better if people just applied a bit of home training, if they have any...? Perhaps we need a mega thread: Stop Trashing Belle Isle OR LOOSE IT! [[gated property?) Not that it would make that much difference. I've seen people literally hurl stuff out the window there and elsewhere willy-nilly...

I love Belle Isle, am a native Detroiter and use the isle responsilbly as much as I can. This trashing is an outworking of a mentality of not giving a crap... after all someone else can pick it up... I wonder what their house looks like?

I wonder if they wipe their butt after taking a dump.

[Wheels]

But by virtue of size alone I would think that Detroit is the single largest contributor to the Metro Parks budget, so shouldn't there at least be one park run by HCMA within the city? Wouldn't Belle Isle make the most sense to be that park?

Detroit can't pay it's fair share of anything. It takes in more from the state than it puts out. That doesn't stop the you owe me attitude.

[iheartthed]

Detroit can't pay it's fair share of anything. It takes in more from the state than it puts out. That doesn't stop the you owe me attitude.

What does that have to do with Detroit property taxes being the largest contributor to HCMA? If HCMA can do without Detroit's tax money then how about relieving Detroit homeowners of that millage obligation and using that money to plug Detroit's own budget problems.

[Zacha341]

Nope! It's all the lead paint chips we ingested when we were kids! ----

I know you're being facetious, but I know a former Detroit cop who swears lead pipes cause a lot of the craziness in Detroit.

[hudkina]

Detroit accounts for just 16% of the population of the five counties that are taxed by HCMA. Detroit is also notoriously bad at collecting property taxes and has some of the lowest property values in the region. Knowing that, I would bet that the percentage of money that HCMA receives from the city is probably closer to 10%. You also have to consider that roughly 40% of the budget for HCMA is derived from property taxes, so in reality, only about 4-6% of the budget comes directly from Detroit property taxes.

[iheartthed]

Detroit accounts for just 16% of the population of the five counties that are taxed by HCMA. Detroit is also notoriously bad at collecting property taxes and has some of the lowest property values in the region. Knowing that, I would bet that the percentage of money that HCMA receives from the city is probably closer to 10%. You also have to consider that roughly 40% of the budget for HCMA is derived from property taxes, so in reality, only about 4-6% of the budget comes directly from Detroit property taxes.

So no other single community in southeast Michigan accounts for 4-6% of HCMA's budget, no? If HCMA can do without Detroit's money then I doubt few Detroiters would complain. Give Detroit its money back. Heck, you can even charge the Detroiters who use HCMA a higher entrance fee!

But if one municipality is contributing significantly more money than everyone else, and is significantly neglecting its own infrastructure, then shouldn't the HCMA be more accommodating to that municipality?

[hudkina]

Sure, I guess the suburbs can take care of the HCMA parks on their own, but the whole point of having regional attractions is that they are subsidized by everyone. And really... Obviously a city that is 5x larger than the next largest city is going to be the single-largest contributor of taxes, but that is irrelevant. Even still, you'd be surprised how little Detroit contributes compared to some of the larger, wealthier suburbs. Oakland County, despite having fewer residents is actually the largest contributor, with nearly 40% of all taxes coming from that county.

In 2011, the numbers were:
Oakland County - $11.8 million - 37.2%
Wayne County - $9.9 million - 30.2%
Macomb County - $6.0 million - 18.4%
Washtenaw County -$3.1 million - 9.1%
Livingston County - $1.7 million - 5.1%
TOTAL - $32.5 million

Detroit contributes about 20% of the Wayne County portion, as property values in the city are much lower than they are in the suburbs. In 2011, Detroit contributed roughly $2 million to the HCMA. In comparison, cities like Troy, Ann Arbor, Sterling Heights, Warren, and Livonia contributed roughly $1 million each.

The Bloomfield Hills/West Bloomfield area contributed about $2 million alone. The 16 communities that make up Downriver also contributed around $2 million. The 11 communities in the Royal Oak/Birmingham area contributed roughly $1.75 million.

So yes, Detroit is the single-largest contributor of taxes, but Detroit really only contributes about 5.5% of the tax revenue generated for the HCMA, and accounts for about 3.8% of the total budget of the HCMA. Relative to its population, Detroit is a small contributor. I wouldn't doubt that at least 5% of the people who visit the HCMA parks each year live in the city [[particularly, considering about 1 in 6 people in the region reside in the city) and if the percentage is higher than 5%, then Detroit is essentially a "welfare" community when it comes to the HCMA.