Possible New Life for Michigan Central Station? Ford Motor Co. a Buyer? YES!

[stasu1213]

Can Detroit have changes without making the raising the taxes in the changed area that long time residents can't stay any longer?

[JBMcB]

Can Detroit have changes without making the raising the taxes in the changed area that long time residents can't stay any longer?

They can't raise property taxes more than 5% per year or the inflation rate, whichever is lower. The past couple of years it's been 5% as inflation has soared, but usually increases have little to do with increased property value if you own your house. We've had property tax increases even when the value of our house has decreased.

[401don]

Can Detroit have changes without making the raising the taxes in the changed area that long time residents can't stay any longer?

This is an odd thread to make this comment. Ford is probably paying no taxes on the Depot with the tax breaks they would have requested but the increase in residential, hotels, restaurants, etc. in Corktown will only benefit existing taxpayers.

[Richard]

This is an odd thread to make this comment. Ford is probably paying no taxes on the Depot with the tax breaks they would have requested but the increase in residential, hotels, restaurants, etc. in Corktown will only benefit existing taxpayers.

Not if you are also giving them the same tax captures,the two posts reflect cause and effect,somebody has to make up the difference and the only way to do that is to increase the taxes on the existing taxpayers in order to offset the loss.

It’s kinda how the city got to where it is in the first place.

But the train station and many others are a testimonial to it comes back around,how many times in the past did they want to demolish it?

[stasu1213]

Not if you are also giving them the same tax captures,the two posts reflect cause and effect,somebody has to make up the difference and the only way to do that is to increase the taxes on the existing taxpayers in order to offset the loss.

It’s kinda how the city got to where it is in the first place.

But the train station and many others are a testimonial to it comes back around,how many times in the past did they want to demolish it?

Agree. I am excited about the renovation and opening of the former train station. I am excited about the new hotels and condos that are lining Michigan Avenue. Gentrification will happen especially in areas that are in or near the downtown area. I just hate to see improvements happening in neighborhoods the Eastside or Westside of Detroit and longtime homeowners be taxed out of their homes or forced to lose their homes through other means

[Richard]

Agree. I am excited about the renovation and opening of the former train station. I am excited about the new hotels and condos that are lining Michigan Avenue. Gentrification will happen especially in areas that are in or near the downtown area. I just hate to see improvements happening in neighborhoods the Eastside or Westside of Detroit and longtime homeowners be taxed out of their homes or forced to lose their homes through other means

It’s going to happen though,the city will also push for the change over as things progress.

Where I am at my property taxes ar capped at no more then 3% so I pay $520 a year,if I sold my house the next buyer would be paying $2300,and yea they sure try and get you to sell.

Their favorite target is long term home owners,many times people in generational homes.you have to keep fighting them and push for legislation actions.

Florida is one of the most homestead protected states in the country,if your home is homesteaded nobody can take or lien your house,even in lawsuits or bankruptcy.As long as you pay your property taxes and do not piss the IRS off.

You would figure that’s the way it should be because it creates more stable and long term homeowners and communities,but cities like to get greedy also.

New Orleans was like Detroit where there were a majority of generational home owners,it took a hurricane to get them out.

In 2014 HUD gave the cities a playbook on methods that could be used to “encourage” people to relocate.

It was branded as a “neighborhood diversity program” the goal was that every neighborhood had to be equally racially diverse,or cities would lose their millions in HUD funding.

Of course it hit African American communities no different then slamming a freeway through them,in the playbook they had pages of methods code enforcement could use in order to encourage people to move.

I read something the other day where Michigan was proposing eliminating property taxes all together,not sure if that was just pandering or if they actually thought about the ramifications because it would pretty much kill any project in Detroit,let alone all the completed ones in the last 5 years.

Axe MI Tax is a proposed state constitutional amendment to forbid taxation and collection on real estate and personal property. Local governments would thus be required to fund essential services through existing state income, sales, alcohol, tobacco and marijuana taxes.

Property taxes, of which there is a statewide rate along with rates that local governments tack on, require land and building owners to pay money based on their taxable value. Rates vary, but 1.32% was typical in Michigan last year, according to financial advice company SmartAsset.

If that goes through,one better hope people increase smoking pot,cigarettes and drinking more others wise you might be out of gas as they say.

But the worst part is it puts the state in control of the city,which is wrong.

Puerto Rico is like that,you are only charged property taxes as long as you have a mortgage on the property,once it is paid for,no more taxes.

Looks good on paper but 1/2 the country has fled because basic services cannot be met.You guys already went down that road and know where it leads,maybe Don can teach them how to bang their head against the wall.

They are always trying to come up with radical solutions,sometimes I wonder if they are so isolated from society they forget there are real people involved.

[K-slice]

Agree. I am excited about the renovation and opening of the former train station. I am excited about the new hotels and condos that are lining Michigan Avenue. Gentrification will happen especially in areas that are in or near the downtown area. I just hate to see improvements happening in neighborhoods the Eastside or Westside of Detroit and longtime homeowners be taxed out of their homes or forced to lose their homes through other means

No one is getting "taxed out" of their homes. There is no conceivable way that the 5% max increase is pushing anyone out. It's a total myth that homeowners in Detroit are being forced out of their homes by one thing or another.

Renters, sure, they can be pushed out due to rent increases, but there's a simple solution to that. BUY A HOME! You can still find hundreds if not thousands of move-in-ready homes in the city for under $150K, which would mean your mortgage payment under $1,000/month.

What we need more if are newly-built, desirable homes and condos that come with a premium price tag to compete with the suburbs.