 Former Ypsilanti Mayor, Pete Murdock, sent this to me via email. I thought it would be apropos to post it in its entirety, particularly with the discussion going on over at Mark Maynard's blog:
City Income Tax - Bad for you, bad for Ypsilanti
With his most recent update, Mayor Paul Schreiber is trying to convince residents that his plan for a City Income Tax will allow residents to enjoy improvements to their quality of life. He claims that the income tax would allow the City to add police officers, pay the full AATA bus contract, and fund recreation opportunities.
The reality is City expenditures continue to rise twice as fast as revenues and twice the rate of inflation, even with the Mayor's Income Tax proposal. Moreover, City Council refuses to acknowledge $1.4M worth of bond and loan payments due on Water Street in November of 2009 and May of 2010. By the second year of the Mayor's proposed income tax, the City will see a $564K deficit, this without ever adding an additional City service.
The Mayor claims City revenues have stagnated since 1999. The numbers tell a different story. Property tax revenues have increased from $7.2M in 1999 to a projected $9.2M in 2007. That's a 28% increase! That's hardly stagnant by most reasonable definitions.
The Mayor claims that we've cut our Police Department from 54 to 40 officers. Ypsilanti has never had 54 sworn officers on duty. The city has the same number of sworn officers on duty today that we did in 1983 and 1993, respectively, at a time when our city's population was larger. The police department is authorized to hire additional part-time officers as soon as staffing reaches a minimum level. That minimum level has already received funding this year. Ypsilanti has not sacrificed public safety in an effort to balance the budget.
The Mayor's income tax plan represents a 25% increase in local tax revenues, and will be a 13% tax increase for the median household in Ypsilanti. The proposal will increase the cost of living as well as the cost to invest in the City, thus creating further barriers to growing our community.
Since 2001, residential property taxes to the City have increased nearly 60%. That represents an increase of more than three times the rate of inflation. The Mayor's proposal will shift taxes away from industrial, commercial, and landlord interests and place it squarely on the shoulders of already burdened residents. The working poor and most vulnerable residents will bear the brunt of the City Income Tax.
In a City where 67% of the residents rent, the Mayor's plan classifies renters and homeowners as less than equals. Renters, who generally fall in the lower income ranges, would be particularly hard hit since they would receive no property tax relief. The Mayor's plan is blatantly regressive.
Does the mayor think that Ypsilanti residents are not paying enough taxes or their fair share? Is the solution more City taxes or does the solution lie elsewhere?
It is imperative that the State creates a shared-revenue system that doesn't penalize older urban areas. It must also take into account communities hosting large tax-exempt state institutions.
But here on the local level, City Council cannot continue to tolerate increases in the cost of services that far outpace revenues and inflation. It is unsustainable and unaffordable to the taxpayers. City Council must recognize that the entire State is changing and they must change with it. How services are delivered to residents must be evaluated and changed to fit the new economic climate in Michigan. Council cannot maintain the status quo if they expect Ypsilanti to survive let alone flourish.
Finally, the City must work to get Water Street back on track by opening up the possibilities for Water Street to a broader vision to encourage development. The City could do much to start saving in an effort to increase the window for Water Street from two to four years. Cutting the money the City spends on a lobbyist would save $40K annually. Currently the City picks up leaves in the fall, but by asking residents to bag them and place the curbside would save an additional $80K. Delaying upgrades to dispatch is another $85K. Finally, by refusing to go further in debt by rejecting the Honeywell project, the City could put the $200K in the Department of Public Works' budget toward the City's solvency.
We can solve the fiscal challenges facing Ypsilanti. Everybody is trying to do more with less and all of us are suffering as a result of the downturn in the economy. But at this most critical time, we can't go out and ask the residents for more money. The problems are fixable without increasing taxes. Ypsilanti is a great community, full of people with the creative ideas to solve any problem. Working together we can maintain a quality of life we can all afford.
Pete Murdock Thanks, Pete, for sharing your perspective. |
