XYZ Gang

[Just Amazed]

Okay we will try this, and see what happens
I sure hope they find something on Mouth Monica

[punky1]

Found you JA. This does seem strange here, like being out in the open all of a sudden.

Punky1

[Jmil]

Great JA & Punky1 have found each other.
Another romance started right here on DetroitYes!

Wonder if this great relationship will result in a little detroityes!er

[Crumbled_pavement]

What the ****?

[Just Amazed]

Found you JA. This does seem strange here, like being out in the open all of a sudden.

Punky1

Just to let you know this forum has MANY options including Group Blogs, I haven't had time to get into anything else but some of these other options may work better, I will let you know later

[Johnlodge]

Alpha 2 this is Stray Tiger... The fix is in, I repeat, the fix is in. Gray man has his hat. Abort, abort.

[East Detroit]

Cool!

Are we all part of the XYZ Gang?

[alsodave]

You ought to know not to stand near the window, somebody will see you up there...

[kit1007]

We recently moved here from another sight that was getting bogged down. We are looking for space to maintain discussions on Detroit issues, city council stuff , COBO and the rest. We welcome people who may have info to share with us to keep everyone up to Date on issues that affect the City and suburbs. I know they is probably a lot of stuff we can learn here .

[kit1007]

Found you JA. This does seem strange here, like being out in the open all of a sudden.

Punky1

Very Strange.

[kit1007]

Very Strange.

That was me K1007

[Crumbled_pavement]

Was this some kind of secret Skull & Bones Detroit society web site? Why are you guys out in the open now, but you weren't then?

*braces for the illuminati - only instead of Angels & Demons, it's now Detroit & Suburbs*

[DetroitDad]

Johnlodge, put down the pineapple cell phone and get out of Capitol Park.

I assume you guys were on one of the private Metro Detroit boards. Welcome, we really need more educated people around here willing to talk about the issues. Welcome.

[punky1]

DetroitDad, thanks for the welcome. Seems to be some rather interesting people here.

[kit1007]

Johnlodge, put down the pineapple cell phone and get out of Capitol Park.

I assume you guys were on one of the private Metro Detroit boards. Welcome, we really need more educated people around here willing to talk about the issues. Welcome.

Not on the board just want to see Detroit and subs make it. I was born in Detroit, my family moved out . Thanks for the welcome. we need people to cheer on the Newer Detroit. No secrets here. Just will take a while getting used to a new format.

[kit1007]

Was this some kind of secret Skull & Bones Detroit society web site? Why are you guys out in the open now, but you weren't then?

*braces for the illuminati - only instead of Angels & Demons, it's now Detroit & Suburbs*

Just looking for a place to park our thoughts in this anonymous world , not trying to tread on your sidewalk! Pave.

[Crumbled_pavement]

not trying to tread on your sidewalk!

It's already crumbled, just watch out for the cracks. Oh, and welcome one and all to DYes.

[Just Amazed]

Watson paid pittance for taxes on 'nonexistent' Detroit house
BY M.L. ELRICK and NAOMI R. PATTON • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS • May 24, 2009

Detroit City Councilwoman JoAnn Watson paid only $68 in property taxes this year because city records say her well-kept, brick Tudor-style home doesn't exist. Although the home has occupied its west-side plot since 1926, city records have classified the parcel as an empty lot for the past decade.



Watson said she was unaware of the discrepancy until the Free Press contacted her. She said the change came before she was elected to City Council -- and without her involvement.

"I pay the taxes. All I know is I had a big drop when my house got hit hard by a tornado," she said. "We had great damage."

Watson said she could not recall the specific date the tornado hit, saying it might have been 2002, or perhaps 1993.

She acknowledged, however, that she never reported the incident. National Weather Service meteorologists said the last tornadoes to hit Detroit occurred in 1996 and 1997 -- before Watson says her taxes were reduced because of what she called "the natural disaster."

Watson, who said she receives her property tax bill separate from her mortgage bill, said she never questioned why her taxes dropped -- or why they didn't increase after she repaired her home.

"If it's an amount that's been determined by the people who are in the business of assessing ... and you pay that, then what's the issue?" she asked.

Watson's neighbors in comparable homes pay $2,000 to $6,500 in taxes. "My house has always been there," she said.

On Friday morning, Watson entered the city tax assessor's office and asked for a review of her tax bill.

Neighbor: 'Wow! I'm shocked'
Since joining the City Council six years ago, insisting that Detroit get its fair share has been one of Watson's signature issues.

On Sept. 29, for example, Watson was the only council member to vote against a tax break for General Motors Corp. in return for building the Chevrolet Volt at its Poletown assembly plant.


As recently as Tuesday, Watson blasted state officials who she said have cut $130 million from the city's portion of revenue sharing over the years. "They owe us," she said during a City Council meeting, demanding that the state pay the money to help Detroit through its financial crisis and reduce its deficit.

[[2 of 3)



Watson's failure to realize she was paying significantly less than she should is noteworthy because she occasionally admonishes city officials for not being more diligent in collecting outstanding property taxes. She says the city needs that money to reduce its deficit, which recent estimates put at close to $300 million.


Watson, who is paid $81,000 a year and gets a city-owned Ford Crown Victoria, said her taxes are paid in full. She said it never occurred to her that her tax bill was a fraction of what it should have been.


"I am paying what the assessor assessed," Watson said, expressing dismay when the Free Press informed her Thursday of the discrepancy.


She blamed the error on a tornado that she said struck her home several years ago. Just when is not exactly clear. She has guessed that it hit as recently as 2002 or as long ago as 1993. The National Weather Service says the last tornadoes to hit Detroit came in 1996 and 1997.


Watson bought the home on a land contract in 1990. She agreed to pay $40,000. A year earlier, city assessors pegged the home's value at about $37,000.


Currently, assessors calculate the property's value at $1,658 because they consider it a vacant lot.


Watson said she noticed the drop in her property tax bill, which she handles herself, but assumed it was because the tornado left a hole in her roof and damaged the home's foundation.


How assessors would have known that is unclear.


Linda Bade, the city's chief assessor, did not return messages Friday.


Watson said she did not call city officials or file an insurance claim. She also said she did not seek a reduction in her property taxes. Watson said that when the lower bill arrived, she simply paid it and did not ask any questions.


"I came to the natural conclusion my house isn't worth much any more," she said. "This assessment dropped because of something that had nothing to do with me."


Watson, who was elected to the City Council in 2003, said she was not a city official at the time the taxes dropped.

[[3 of 3)



She said she did not rejoice in the tax break.


"In fact, I was kind of insulted," she said, adding that she feared the value of her home had plummeted.


However, in 2002, as she prepared to run for City Council, Watson obtained a $60,000 mortgage.


To obtain the loan, Watson acknowledged that her property was appraised. But she said that appraisal did not prompt her to think that her home had regained value and, consequently, would merit an increase in her property tax bill.


She said she assumed the appraisers "used their financial wizardry" to help her get the loan on her home.


When Free Press reporters questioned Watson about her property taxes, she said she would go to the assessor's office Tuesday and say: "Are you aware you're charging me for a lot and I live in a house?"


If correcting the error generates a bill for back taxes, Watson said she will be "happy to pay it. I pay my bills."


Watson instead went to the assessor's office Friday morning, arriving just after 9.


A clerk confirmed that the property was listed as vacant.


The councilwoman said, no, there was a home on the lot, and told her about the tornado.


Watson asked how soon her property could be reassessed.


"I don't want special treatment," she said. "I want someone to look at it."


The exchange was completed in about 10 minutes. The clerk reviewed her 2002 mortgage. And she gave Watson a form to request an assessment.


"I'll bring it back," Watson said, smiling.


One of Watson's neighbors, informed Friday of Watson's tax bill, was incredulous.


"Wow! I'm shocked," Natalie Solomon told the Free Press.


Solomon, who lives across the street from Watson, said, "I know my property taxes.


"That's not fair."


Contact NAOMI R. PATTON: 313-223-3327 or npatton@freepress.com. Contact M.L. ELRICK: 313-222-6582 or mlelrick@freepress.com
************************************************** ************************************************** ***********
$68 property tax on an empty lot???????????? You have got to be kidding me. And she didn't think anything about it.

[Tushana]

Made it! :0) Where is everyone?

[punky1]

Been busy looking for my councilmember and accountant on this holiday weekend for an explanation why I have been paying prop. taxes based on a real house. I had a "wind" blow through here one night and knocked down a pine tree. I just thought it was more hot air from politicians. Can't wait to see what the re-assessment and subsequent bill will be. Bet they don't go retroactive on it but if they do I would like to see what the repayment plan is, after the November elections. Just more evidence about the ethics of politicians.

[DetroitDad]

So, Watson is either lying and is corrupt, or telling the truth and is not to bright? Her job includes knowing and allocating funds and tax dollars, does it not? No matter what the truth is, we might want to consider that she shouldn't be on the city council any longer.

Detroit needs competent, strong, and even revolutionary leaders. The blind cannot lead the blind, and the corrupt only care about themselves.

[kit1007]

Come on Now. How could she not know. This is fraud, simple, send her to jail if she doesn't re pay it all. .
I almost wish COBO moved out. Someone needs to show Detroit they can't continue business as usual.

I was reading where the Detroit School board is now objecting to the new plan. To little to late folks you messed up your own gravy train by the greed. Does anyone remember a few years ago a school board member, a man entrusted with the care and education of children was arrested himself for neglect of his own children. The home was all torn up , he blamed the kids rough housing, possible sexual and physical abuse of his kids, Oh Ya HE was also a Pastor. I wonder where you go once you already used the excuse of finding God. He sure dropped off the radar screen fast. Or maybe he is still on the board trying to keep a pay check. I will loose all respect for Ken C and Bing if the school board is allowed to over throw the new plans and gets control back. It could happen.

[DetroitDad]

DetroitYES poster "DigitalVision" posted some notes on The 48 Laws of Power. He mentioned that several of our politicians are often following concepts like this.

[Swimmaven]

It seems as if the most absurd tales of corruption come from Detroit. I'll bet the elections are fixed so even if someone wanted to clean up the city gov, it just would not happen.

[punky1]

DetroitYES poster "DigitalVision" posted some notes on The 48 Laws of Power. He mentioned that several of our politicians are often following concepts like this.

Thanks for the link. Very interesting. Others, check it out.