The Detroit News. May 17, 2018
Don’t turn landlords into tax snitches
Private business owners should not have to serve as Detroit’s income tax enforcers. Demanding that landlords cough up detailed personal information of their tenants is an unreasonable request and an affront to privacy.
Bedrock Management Services, an arm of the Dan Gilbert empire, is refusing to comply with the demand and likely faces a lawsuit.
Unlike many landlords in the city, Gilbert has the resources to fight the request, and hopefully he will do so successfully.
Detroit says it needs to know who is occupying rental space in the city so that it can enforce its 2.4 percent residential income tax. It believes, and is probably right, that a large number of people who live in the city - particularly those occupying lofts and apartments downtown - are using suburban addresses to avoid paying the higher tax rate. Non-residents who work in the city are assessed at 1.2 percent.
In all likelihood, the scofflaws aren’t as much trying to avoid the residential income tax as they are exorbitant automobile insurance premiums, which are often two to three times higher in Detroit than what suburban motorists pay.
To root out those who aren’t paying their fair share, the city is demanding Bedrock and selected other landlords provide a list of their tenants, along with their social security numbers, employer and other personal information so the city can cross check the data against its income tax rolls.
Bedrock contends it can’t release information that was given to it in confidence without the permission of its tenants.
That’s a reasonable defense. Tenants have an expectation of privacy when they disclose their personal information in a contractual relationship with a landlord. And landlords may also have good reason to keep their tenant list private, particularly if they are leasing to high profile individuals.
Rather than turning landlords into tax compliance officers, the city should continue to attack the reasons residents are avoiding officially declaring themselves Detroiters.
That starts with pressuring the city’s legislative delegation to get behind reform of Michigan’s no-fault auto insurance system, which is the main driver of Detroit’s high premiums.
It also should consider lowering the residential income tax rate to match the non-resident rate. At 2.4 percent, Detroit imposes the highest local income tax in the state. It is a disincentive to live in the city.
Lowering the rate, or getting rid of it altogether, would encourage population growth in Detroit and ultimately generate more revenue.
In the meanwhile, the city should back off this intrusive action to force landlords to violate the privacy of their tenants.
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Times Herald (Port Huron). May 17, 2018
Boaters, go slow for your neighbors
High Great Lakes water levels do have some benefits, the experts say. High water levels are good for beach vegetation, which provides improved habitat for a variety of fish species and other aquatic animals. Improved near-shore habitat is good for fish that spawn in those conditions, which is good for anglers.
Higher water levels mean Great Lakes freighters can carry bigger loads at lower costs. High water gives both freighters and recreational boats more room to maneuver. And they save marina owners and operators some of the cost of dredging to keep their facilities open to boaters.
But there are negatives, too. Beaches are smaller when lake levels are high, and more prone to erosion from the pounding of wind and waves. Docks are under water in some cases, so money saved on dredging has to be spent on reconfiguring docks instead.
And, worst of all, some of that extra water keeps sloshing ashore and damaging public and private property. Strong southerly winds last week pushed Lake St. Clair into property owners’ back yards and across roads. Brisk - and chilly - northerly winds off Lake Huron on Thursday piled up waves and raised the risk of flooding along the lakeshore.
Those problems are unavoidable. So far, all we can do about icy spring breezes off Lake Huron is complain about them. And we will change our tunes in August, when we’ll relish the free air conditioning carried in an on-shore wind.
But we need to be mindful of our neighbors when we are using area waterways. The wakes of speeding boats are harming people’s property, undermining seawalls and damaging buildings. After Times Herald reporter Bob Gross wrote about wake laws for Monday’s paper, boaters complained they were never told the law regarding wakes. Unfortunately, that is probably true. Unlike the requirements needed to get a license to operate a motor vehicle, someone who buys a boat doesn’t need to prove he knows how to operate it.
In case you missed it, state law says that a boat less than 26 feet long may not throw a wake within 200 feet of shore. A boat 26 feet or longer may not throw a wake within 600 feet of shore. St. Clair County is putting up signs on the St. Clair River to remind boaters of the law, but it applies everywhere.
Thoughtful boaters recognize there is more to protecting shoreline properties than just following the letter of the law. Wake affects can be additive; a speed that might be harmless on a calm day can be devastating when it is multiplied by a passing freighter and gusty winds.
Water levels ebb and flow in cycles.
Respect and consideration for your neighbors should not.
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Traverse City Record-Eagle. May 16, 2018
City residents must bear repair burden
At least 16 roads in Traverse City are falling apart. They need to be fixed - and someone needs to pay for those repairs. That someone almost certainly will be city residents.
City Manager Marty Colburn told city commissioners Monday that the traditional flow of state funding for infrastructure projects is dwindling. Some state tax money has been funneled back to local communities through revenue sharing, funds intended to help communities pay for basic governmental services. The state collects sales and other taxes, then routes some of the money back to the local communities in which it was collected. But that flow has diminished in recent years.
Traverse City, and most cities in Michigan, no longer can depend on state revenue sharing to fund infrastructure repairs, Colburn said.
That means city residents alone must shoulder the burden to fix those roads - and tackle other infrastructure projects that in the past would have been funded at least partly by revenue sharing payments from Lansing.
Fixing those 16 roads - the worst of the city’s most dilapidated streets - won’t be cheap, and it won’t happen overnight. But they must be repaired. Providing safe roads is a basic community service, close in importance to providing police and fire protection. The ability to move around freely within the city is essential.
Colburn suggested Monday that the city increase property taxes by 1 mill, which would bring in about $876,000 in the first year. He also suggested the city begin charging a 1 percent tax administration fee, which would bring in about $426,000 a year. He said the two sources of additional funding would enable work to begin on fixing those deteriorating streets.
He also proposed hikes in water and sewer rates to pay for upgrades in those city departments.
A public hearing on the city’s proposed budget will be held on Monday, May 21, at 7 p.m. The proposed budget includes $16.6 million in revenues - including the possible millage increase and new fees - and $16.2 million in expenditures. The commission will have a budget work session on May 29 at 7 p.m. The commission is scheduled to vote on final approval of the budget at its June 4 regular meeting.
The city, under its charter, can levy up to 12.6967 mills. It now is levying 11.1167 mills. Colburn’s proposed changes would bump the levy up to 12.1167. That change would cost the city’s average homeowner an additional $144 a year.
Every tax increase hurts. But cracked and potholed streets hurt too. Bad roads torture car tires and make bicycling difficult. And a community’s collective sense of pride can take a beating if infrastructure like streets and sidewalks fall apart and become public eyesores.
Those 16 roads must be repaired.
“The fact of the matter is we are not keeping up with our infrastructure,” Colburn said Monday. “We need additional resources to meet the needs.”
Urban decay is not pretty. Maintaining a functional and beautiful community requires investment.
The Issue:
- City considers increasing millage, adding fee
Our View:
- Infrastructure upkeep essential for a healthy community
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The Mining Journal (Marquette). May 16, 2018
New state law would help victims to start over
We like what we’ve seen of a new state proposal that would enable the victims of sexual assault or domestic violence to withhold their street addresses in public records to keep the information from falling into the hands of potential abusers.
The proposal was introduced in the state Senate by Sen. Margaret O’Brien, R-Portage, who was inspired to begin work on the bill after speaking to a survivor of domestic abuse. The survivor worried that a potential abuser, who allegedly threatened her from behind prison bars, could access her contact information from public records once he was released.
“I was able to see how many people who are survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and human trafficking cannot feel safe when they try to start their life over,” O’Brien told the Detroit News. “So we want to offer a reasonable path that could help them stay in Michigan but start over and be able to stay safe.”
If passed into law in its present form, the proposal would be administered out of the Attorney General’s office. It would be open to the victims of domestic violence, stalking, human trafficking or sexual assault. Parents could apply on behalf of minors, the News reported. According to one source, 37 states already have similar laws.
It would cost about $400,000 to run the program annually. And there may be other unanticipated costs borne by the Secretary of State’s Office and the Department of Technology Management and Budget.
We still like the program, though. Police and prosecutors will tell you that victims are often re-abused by the original offenders.
This law, which is going to be considered by the Michigan House, would make that more difficult.
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