It’s so cold in the D

I’ve been on a personal rant since 2014 about all of things happening in Detroit that were put in place to get citizens out of the city. The truth of the matter is that this chaos started long before my discussions. The years of 2007-2008 is when the Country went through it’s recession. Housing markets were plummeting all over, but it seemed Detroit had been hit the worst. What many people didn’t discuss is why or how. 

Banks, lenders, and all those in between allowed properties in Detroit to be appraised extremely high, or at the very least they were appraised for accurate amounts. The higher your property value, the higher your tax bill. The following year, hardly anyone could get their houses appraised for a reasonable value. It’s said that the value of properties decreased by about 75% in Detroit. This made many people upside down in their mortgages. Lots of people walked away from their homes because it just made more sense. Many people lost their homes due to unpaid taxes on their homes.

It turns out that the city of Detroit never lowered the property assessments that it uses to base tax bills. In layman’s terms, Detroiters were overtaxed for their homes. This mainly impacted Black people in the city of Detroit, forcing them into foreclosure. It’s amazing to me how much the city of Detroit, its officials, and the State of Michigan refuse to listen to the citizens. Detroit citizens have been complaining, writing letters, and protesting about knowingly being overtaxed. We were unheard and ignored. But, as of recently, the media has gotten involved.

Investigative reporter Christine McDonald broke this story a few weeks back. She made it very clear that the citizens of Detroit are owed money and so much more. Following the story, Agnes Hitchcock (a well known member and advocate) held a meeting to discuss being over taxed. Over 500 citizens of Detroit showed up to the meeting. Those in attendance included Sam Riddle, Joanna Underwood, and Christine McDonald. Citizens were looking for answers, monies owed to them, and next steps.

Many left the meeting with unanswered questions and confusion. One would think the Mayor of Detroit might show up or maybe even a member of the city council. But, of course, no officials were present.

Will this be another tragedy swept under the rug like the gentrification of Detroit, the shut down of small businesses and the random water shutoffs enforced onto Detroit citizens? It’s time that we hold the city, county, and the state accountable for it’s constant mistreatment of Detroit citizens!