Detroit's costly tax breaks

The Detriot News reports:

Detroit is losing more than $63 million in annual revenue because of property tax breaks given to people moving into new houses, condos and lofts.

The tax breaks have cost the city and school district more than $400 million since 2000, according to a Detroit News analysis of State Tax Commission data, property assessments and tax records.

The $63 million annual revenue loss is roughly equivalent to the cost of 750 police officers. It is also enough to pay for three years of residential curbside bulk trash pickup, operate the shuttered Belle Isle Aquarium for 60 years or run the entire city lighting department for a year.

City planners argue the abatements are necessary because Detroit's roughly 67-mill property tax rate, one of the highest in Michigan, makes living there unaffordable. Tax cuts are the primary reason why the number of residential building permits issued in the city rose from a recent low point of 101 in 1997 to 1,056 in 2005, the most among southeast Michigan cities that year.

If they cut goverment spending taxes wouldn't be so high.Maybe a federal bankruptcy judge will put Detriot out of its misery.