To keep streetlights on, metro Detroit communities send the bill to residents

The Detroit Free Press reports:

Streetlights are important to Richard Kudrak, but the Lincoln Park resident is unhappy with the assessment he’ll pay for lighting in his winter tax bill.

Lincoln Park, like a growing number of Michigan communities struggling to balance finances and demands for service, is now turning to special-assessment districts to pay for streetlight installation, upgrades and operations.

Communities across metro Detroit, including Eastpointe, Ypsilanti, Flint, Hazel Park and Clinton Township, are paying for street-lighting or lighting infrastructure upgrades by charging residents based on the number or frontage size of their property parcels.

Lincoln Park’s City Council voted Tuesday to charge property owners about $38 per parcel each year for five years.

Now is a good time to privatize everything.