RIP Detroit: MI Gov declares financial state of emergency

[ColonelSteve]

NBC News ‏@NBCNews

Motown Blues: Governor declares state of financial emergency in Detroit http://nbcnews.to/15Wv5HU

[KSRBEvans]

Read an article last week that said half of Detroit property owners don't pay their property taxes. Almost $250,000,000 in taxes are uncollected.

[badrose]

You reap what you sow.

[ColonelSteve]

Read an article last week that said half of Detroit property owners don't pay their property taxes. Almost $250,000,000 in taxes are uncollected.

Good lord, but hearing this point of view...I actually agree with him

Delinquency is so pervasive that 77 blocks had only one owner who paid taxes last year, The News found. Many of those who don't pay question why they should in a city that struggles to light its streets or keep police on them.

"Why pay taxes?" asked Fred Phillips, who owes more than $2,600 on his home on an east-side block where five owners paid 2011 taxes. "Why should I send them taxes when they aren't supplying services? It is sickening. … Every time I see the tax bill come, I think about the times we called and nobody came."

This week, a state-appointed review team concluded the city can't fix its financial problems. Any emergency manager appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder would have to grapple with a broken property tax system. The city's share of uncollected taxes last year was $131 million — an amount equal to 12 percent of Detroit's general fund budget.

[badrose]

Probably a chicken and egg situation.

[KeithKSR]

Detroit is a wasteland, entire neighborhoods are empty.

[bigsky]

Ode to liberal Santa Claus governance

[KeithKSR]

Ode to liberal Santa Claus governance

Yep.