No tax zone for Detroit?

[Michigan]

Who is going to pay for this? How do you suggest that the city or state finance such a hairbrained idea?

It will pay for itself through revenue generation.

[Danny]

There was proposal during the Grand Hotel Conference involving fewer members of Michigan legislature that Detroit should become federal tax free city. Could this tax free program regionalization our a dead broke city?

Any thoughts.

[Islandman]

http://detroityes.com/mb/showthread.php?t=5845

[Whitehouse]

Great...

And how do you suppose the police, firedepartment, public sewers, road maintainance etc. would be funded? Someone will have to foot that bill. That's your tax dollars at work.

[Jimaz]

Cutting taxes has been a disaster for Arizona. Don't tell them that though. They're fiercely determined to jump all the way off that cliff.

DetroitYES Forums > Non Detroit Issues > Republican Night of the Long Knives continues... > #38

[DetroitPlanner]

Roads are funded through the gas tax. I would agree that we should only cut what would be beneficial for revenues. As it is Detroit is at a dis-advantage to its competition. There needs to be a slow cutting to find an equalibrium. A good place to start would be income taxes. Kwame suspended this cut half-way through. Detroit would have been in better shape fiscally if it dropped income tax to 2 percent for residents [[it was three and stopped at 2.5) and 1 percent for commuters.

Definitely a penny-wise pound foolish idea. The federal govt is not going to save us if we are not trying to save ourselves.

[lincoln8740]

Cutting taxes has been a disaster for Arizona. Don't tell them that though. They're fiercely determined to jump all the way off that cliff.

DetroitYES Forums > Non Detroit Issues > Republican Night of the Long Knives continues... > #38

I swear to god lefties hate people retaining their own money so much that they are against it even when its going to help detroit!!!

Do you have any idea how many people would jump at the idea of not paying Federal income tax for ten years?

Maybe you are one of the majority of people in this country that pay little or no Federal income tax, but for business owners this would be a great idea.


Would it be tough to get through congress? of course but its worth a shot.

It would be nice for once to not have to beg for money from the feds only to see whatever cash they give us squandered on useless projects [[can you say light rail?)

And yes a tax free zone may be construed as a handout by some but I do not think a majority of Americans will see it that way

[Crumbled_pavement]

And yes a tax free zone may be construed as a handout by some but I do not think a majority of Americans will see it that way

You actually believe the majority of Americans would favor the citizens of Detroit being exempt from federal taxes while they themselves still have to pay the same taxes? If Detroit, why not Chicago, L.A., NYC, Miami, San Fran, Cleveland, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, and the list goes on. There's no chance of such a thing even getting approved because most of America would be livid at such an idea.

[lincoln8740]

You actually believe the majority of Americans would favor the citizens of Detroit being exempt from federal taxes while they themselves still have to pay the same taxes? If Detroit, why not Chicago, L.A., NYC, Miami, San Fran, Cleveland, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, and the list goes on. There's no chance of such a thing even getting approved because most of America would be livid at such an idea.

I think if its proposed by a republican president and framed in a way that says"these people pay little or no income tax to begin with yet the federal government has dumped X amount of dollars into the city with little or no results over the years then why not try something bold?"

Or imagine if you had some sort of schedule whereby Detroit is first then New Orleans then Miami in ten year periods[[ the order does not matter)--can you imagine the build up of businesses just in anticipation?

[Crumbled_pavement]

can you imagine the build up of businesses just in anticipation?

Yes, I can imagine non-urban areas jumping for joy that urban areas don't have to pay federal taxes.

[Novine]

"Or imagine if you had some sort of schedule whereby Detroit is first then New Orleans then Miami in ten year periods[[ the order does not matter)--can you imagine the build up of businesses just in anticipation?"

I'm still waiting on someone from the brain trust advocating this idea to explains how Detroit pays for basic services when it gives up most of its revenue to make itself a tax-free zone.

[fryar]

Newt Gingrich's idea is a reference to federal income taxes, not state/local taxes.

And what little chance this idea has of flying, it is far greater than it would be if it were not the proposal of Newt Gingrich.

[Novine]

"Newt Gingrich's idea is a reference to federal income taxes, not state/local taxes."

Says who? This article talks about Gingrich coming back to Detroit to discuss the idea with Dave Bing. What's to discuss if it's only about federal taxes?

http://www.mlive.com/business/detroi..._to_retur.html

[lincoln8740]

"Newt Gingrich's idea is a reference to federal income taxes, not state/local taxes."

Says who? This article talks about Gingrich coming back to Detroit to discuss the idea with Dave Bing. What's to discuss if it's only about federal taxes?

http://www.mlive.com/business/detroi..._to_retur.html

"Let's pretend Detroit is Puerto Rico for 10 years," he said. "No taxes for a decade on job creation. No taxes on investments. No taxes on capital gains as long as they are in Detroit."

Let's see puerto rico doesn't pay federal taxes and unless there is a new Detroit tax on capital gains I think he is talking about federal

also if you want to start the push you must get some advocates in line--no?

I also love how you refuse to give an opinion on the idea if its just federal.

[lincoln8740]

Newt Gingrich's idea is a reference to federal income taxes, not state/local taxes.

And what little chance this idea has of flying, it is far greater than it would be if it were not the proposal of Newt Gingrich.

Now we reject an idea because of where and from whom it originates?


Can you say robert thompson?

[Hermod]

Conservatives would go for the idea because it pumps money into the city without it passing through the hands of the kleptocracy.

It would also cause a flood of people into the city [[residency requirements would have to be strict and rigorously enforced) which just might cause the kleptocracy to be voted out of office en masse.

A lot of the new communities might be fenced and gated though.

[ghettopalmetto]

Conservatives would go for the idea because it pumps money into the city without it passing through the hands of the kleptocracy.

It would also cause a flood of people into the city [[residency requirements would have to be strict and rigorously enforced) which just might cause the kleptocracy to be voted out of office en masse.

Or, at least according to Newt's "logic", that's what'll happen. Of course, using the same logic, you'd expect Wilmington, Delaware to dwarf Manhattan.

[Hermod]

Or, at least according to Newt's "logic", that's what'll happen. Of course, using the same logic, you'd expect Wilmington, Delaware to dwarf Manhattan.

I guarantee you that if you make Detroit an FEDERAL income tax free zone for anyone who lives there, the population of Detroit will sky rocket.

Wilmington and New York are the differences between state and local taxes which are not as significant.

Also, New York is a state of mind. New Yorkers think the world ends somewhere out in New Jersey. You should have heard the screams when we were phasing down the workers at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey and moving them to Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois back in 1973. They thought the Indians were still attacking wagon trains out there.

[ghettopalmetto]

I guarantee you that if you make Detroit an FEDERAL income tax free zone for anyone who lives there, the population of Detroit will sky rocket.

Not if you don't plow the fucking streets in January.

[Hermod]

Not if you don't plow the fucking streets in January.

The streets will be plowed if the crowd to whom a federal tax free zone is important moves into the city.

Now that you mention it though, when I was a kid in Detroit in the forties and fifties, the residential streets didn't get plowed. Whittier got plowed, Harper got plowed, and Kelly got plowed. The residential streets [[Nottingham, Beaconsfield, Yorkshire, Grayton) got snowed over with the first permanent snowfall and you didn't see the pavement again until the spring thaw.

[ghettopalmetto]

The streets will be plowed if the crowd to whom a federal tax free zone is important moves into the city.

Plow the streets with whose money? Yours?

Who's going to spend thousands of dollars to move to a place that offers virtually nothing in the way of services? You write as if a tax break is the most important thing ever. Wealthy people already have enough tax shelters, and aren't going to forego the Manhattan penthouse for a neighborhood in Detroit where the cops can't be bothered to show up. Rednecks in the sticks who hate taxes can't afford to spend thousands of dollars moving for the pittance of a tax break they would get under such a plan.

This idea is idiotic and overly simplistic at best.

[Detroitnerd]

Whenever I hear a politician talking about lowering taxes, I figure: This is too good to be true. There will be some reckoning down the line, in inferior services, kickbacks from privatized contractors, harassed labor unions, etc. So what do they mean by tax reform? It often is code for shifting the tax burden from those who have money to those who don't.

Remember: When working people demand better services, higher pay, secure benefits or more rights, it is called "class warfare." When the rich do it, it is called "reform."

[lincoln8740]

Plow the streets with whose money? Yours?

Who's going to spend thousands of dollars to move to a place that offers virtually nothing in the way of services? You write as if a tax break is the most important thing ever. Wealthy people already have enough tax shelters, and aren't going to forego the Manhattan penthouse for a neighborhood in Detroit where the cops can't be bothered to show up. Rednecks in the sticks who hate taxes can't afford to spend thousands of dollars moving for the pittance of a tax break they would get under such a plan.

This idea is idiotic and overly simplistic at best.

didn't know federal dollars were used to plow the streets--I would love a link to that.

Pittance of a tax break--really?

39% of my gross income goes towards federal taxes if you call that a pittance--god bless

or you are one of those people that pay virtually no federal taxes so you have no clue what you are talking about

A guy making a million bucks a year gets to keep 400k that would be taken by uncle sam unless he moves to detroit?--pretty good motivator.

Shit, how about a gross income of 100k? you can keep 40 k--pretty good motivator.

But hey I swear to god a 3mile stretch of light rail will turn this city around--I swear it will!!!!

[ghettopalmetto]

didn't know federal dollars were used to plow the streets--I would love a link to that.

I didn't say federal dollars were used to plow streets. What I said was that no one is going to move to Detroit for a federal tax break if the City can't afford to keep its streets plowed in the winter--let alone provide any other services.

Pittance of a tax break--really?

How much do you think a person, earning the Michigan median household income of $48,200, pays in federal taxes? [[The answer is $3600 for a married couple with no children). Is someone going to sacrifice their existing quality of life, spend thousands of dollars moving, receive no services and move to Detroit to keep $3600 a year in their pocket--ASSUMING they could find a job in Detroit?

39% of my gross income goes towards federal taxes if you call that a pittance--god bless

God bless your math skills. The top marginal income tax bracket is 35%. Your effective rate, which includes amounts taxed at lower percentages, is far lower.

or you are one of those people that pay virtually no federal taxes so you have no clue what you are talking about

High dollar earners don't live in places like Chicago, Manhattan, and DC because of the low taxes [[or the cost of living). So why would those same people move to Detroit for a tax cut--ESPECIALLY if the environment that affords them to make those incomes simply doesn't exist in Detroit?

I pay my share without whining about it, thank you.

[Hermod]

God bless your math skills. The top marginal income tax bracket is 35%. Your effective rate, which includes amounts taxed at lower percentages, is far lower.

Next year, assuming no congressional action, the top rate pops up to the 39.2 or 39.6 level that Moses brought down from the top of the mount engraved on stone tablets.

Actually the number is an accident of the 1986 tax compromises where they phased out exemptions resulting in a small bracket which had that as the effective tax bracket. After taking office, Bill Clinton had the top marginal rate moved up to that point and it has become the Holy Grail [[unless you are a true believer in the 91% top bracket).

.