Detroit Today: How Duggan’s property tax reform proposal could lower rates for Detroit residents

Mayor Mike Duggan says a split-rate property tax could change Detroit’s high taxation rates, lowering the burden for homeowners.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan speaks to "Detroit Today" host Stephen Henderson at the Mackinac Policy Conference on May 31, 2023 on Mackinac Island, Mich.

The City of Detroit’s “Land Value Tax Plan was unveiled at this year’s Mackinac Policy Conference. Mayor Mike Duggan said he could provide tax relief to homeowners and most businesses by increasing tax rates on vacant and blighted properties.

At the top end of the economic scale, some claim the property tax serves as a disincentive to live and work in Detroit. Many poor residents have seen their inability to pay the current rate result in the seizure of their homes.

The City of Detroit’s Chief Financial Officer, Jay Rising, joined Detroit Today to discuss the potential impacts this plan could have on Detroiters.


Listen: Why Detroit’s high property tax rates may soon be lowered.


Guest

Jay Rising is the Chief Financial Officer for the City of Detroit. He says that the new split-rate tax proposal would lower the barrier to owning and keeping property in Detroit.

“A lot of development in Detroit right now, you have to go through a lot of hurdles to get a tax exemption,” Rising says, adding, “the proposal actually reduces the burden on homeowners.”

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  • Dynamic and diverse voices. News, politics, community and the issues that define our region. Hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Stephen Henderson, Detroit Today brings you fresh and perceptive views weekdays at 9 am and 7 pm.