The Detroit City Council made it clear that it's not willing to ask voters for a major tax hike to increase the number of public safety workers in the cash-strapped city.
The council voted 7-2 Tuesday against putting a proposal on the Nov. 6 ballot that would raise millions to hire more cops, firefighters and emergency medical workers. The measure would have raised property taxes by 8 mills, generating $56 million a year for five years as a way for the city to fight back against crime and dwindling resources.
"I have not gotten one call ... that says, 'You better put this on the ballot so I can pay more money for more police officers,' " Councilman Kwame Kenyatta told members of the city's Board of Police Commissioners and Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee Jr., who strongly backed the proposal. "I've gotten plenty that say, 'I can't take anymore.' "
Council President Charles Pugh and Councilman Andre Spivey were the only two votes in favor of the ballot measure.
Council approval -- required to put the measure before voters -- was in doubt from the beginning because the city's tax rate, at 67.34 for primary homeowners, is among the highest in the state yet provides substandard public services. Detroit's fiscal crisis prompted a financial stability agreement with the state that prevented appointment of an emergency manager in exchange for major state oversight of city finances.
Political analyst Eric Foster, who tracks Detroit issues, said he wasn't surprised by the council's reluctance to put the measure to voters who already shoulder a high tax burden for shoddy city services.
But Foster said there was a strong possibility the measure would have passed because Detroiters fear crime is out of control and the police and fire departments are outgunned and outmatched.
"You've got a public safety system that just doesn't have enough bodies, and no amount of redeployment is going to change that," Foster said. "The criminals know, 'Hey, I've got a big window here,' and they act accordingly."
Backers said they don't have enough time to mount a campaign to collect signatures to put the proposal on the ballot in November, so the council's decision kills the idea for this year.
What support there may have been among council members appeared to have been undermined by an opinion released by the city's Law Department warning that the city would risk losing state revenue sharing commensurate to the amount the public safety millage would have raised.
Chief Assistant Corporation Counsel Dennis Mazurek said there was some gray area surrounding the issue, but the millage increase might -- if approved by voters -- prompt the state to reduce its revenue sharing to Detroit under state law governing local taxation.
The Rev. Jerome Warfield, a police commissioner, said that without a major infusion of police, Detroit's battle against violent crime is akin to trying to remove water from a sinking ship with a thimble.
"This weekend alone, 32 people in Detroit got shot; seven of them died," Warfield said. "We need a surge of officers. ... The cost that goes on if we do nothing is far greater."
Referring to Detroit's dramatic population loss, Warfield said residents are "not leaving Detroit because of property taxes. They're leaving Detroit because they feel it's unsafe."
Godbee, stung by criticism from Councilman Ken Cockrel Jr. that the Detroit Police Department could better manage its response to crime and deployment of officers, said after the council meeting that his officers are stretched thin amid staff reductions, a 10% pay cut and other work-rules changes Mayor Dave Bing's administration recently imposed on the force.
"You have to reinvest in this Police Department," Godbee said. "Any city across the country that you look at that is successful, they make a significant investment in public safety. The only question that was asked was give the citizens an opportunity to say yes or no."
The millage would have cost the owner of a home with a market value of $25,000 about $100 a year.
The city this summer slashed $75 million from the Police Department's 2012-13 budget, now at about $340 million a year.
Residents were divided about the council's decision.
Scott Byrd, 31, a software engineer from Detroit, said the city's tax rates deter people from buying homes and investing in the city, and the council was right to prevent another increase.
"If you're trying to build up the city, you don't want to have too high of taxes," Byrd said.
But Elannah Moore, 31, a scheduler for a social services agency, said she believes residents should have been given the chance to vote.
"Of course nobody wants to pay more taxes, but what's the alternative?" Moore said. "You can't expect people to want to live here and work here if they don't feel safe. Safety is crucial to the rebirth of Detroit."
Copyright 2012 - Detroit Free Press
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
