Quote Originally Posted by RO_Resident View Post
Proposal A makes it hard to do an apples-to-apples comparison for taxes on a property.

No doubt Detroit's homesteaded millage rate is higher than Livonia's [[68.44 mills vs 39.36 mills according to Mi Treasury's property tax estimator). It's 70 percent higher in Detroit.

With a purchase, the city will uncap any property taxes. So, a new sale in Detroit of $100,000 [[SEV of $50,000) will have a tax bill of ~$3,422. The new sale in Livonia of $325,000 [[SEV of $162,500) would be ~$6,396.

So, the taxes on a new sale in either community would be roughly double in Livonia. The only way the taxes would be roughly the same would be the same is if the family owned the property for a long period of time which would keep the taxable value low.

And yes, I largely agree with the article, especially with the insurance costs.
Proposal A was just another special interest [[old people) tax break and nothing more. It certainly was NOT property tax reform. Just look at who benefited, the people who had been in their homes for a long time. Who did it punish the most? Young people with growing families who would need to get bigger houses, first time home buyers and people moving here needing houses. After 20 years what have we got? A declining population. One of the worst performing housing markets statewide in the country in that time period and still top ten highest property taxes in the country.

We bit off our nose to spite our face. One of the largest wealth generators for individuals in America is appreciation of value in the primary residence. Hows that been working around here for the last 20 years? High property taxes on low value homes is a economy and neighborhood destroyer. 4k in property taxes is ridiculously high period.