A new Land Value Tax Plan is being discussed by the Detroit City Council. The city is considering implementing it to lower the property tax. Detroit doubles the national average regarding property tax rate. The property tax rate for a median-valued home in Detroit is about 3.21% in 2023. Detroit’s Land Value Tax Plan will lower property taxes by 17%; instead, increase the taxes on the vacant land in Detroit.
This will supposedly lighten the load and relieve homeowners who have had to pay high property taxes.
The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t stop Focus: HOPE, a non-profit organization, from supporting Detroit residents. Early Childhood Specialist for Focus: HOPE Juan Ruiz said, “We were really comprehensive in our COVID protocols, we worked closely with the state, the county and the city before we opened up anything.”
Impact on volunteers
With COVID cases increasing, the stay-at-home order and people leaving jobs, Focus: HOPE was worried about a decrease in its volunteers. “We were concerned that we would lose our volunteers,” said Kubik. “We lost a lot of our corporate groups because their businesses worked from home, but we gained many individuals who were sent home from work, had time to get away for a few hours and came and helped us out, so we never really missed a beat with the volunteers.”
Impact on seniors
With the stay at home order in place, it urged families to not leave the house unless it was to go to the grocery store, pharmacy, engage in outdoor activities or go to the hospitals. With these rules in place, many seniors didn’t want to leave the house, which caused Focus: HOPE to think of a solution for getting the food boxes to the seniors.
“We would get calls from seniors who were afraid to leave the house because of the stay-at-home order,” said Kubik.
The demand for houses has been on a steady rise since in-person activities have returned, however, the number of houses hasn’t increased, making it a seller’s market in Detroit. Home sellers are ready to welcome buyers to browse and sell to the highest bidder.
“We had a week of open houses, but we got an offer on like the third day,” said Leah Yankee, a resident of North Rosedale Park. “Several people told me it would go fast but it went very quickly.”
Yankee sold her home in July and said buying her current home was just as competitive as selling her previous home.
“I do know that home prices are high right now, and our home was considered a ‘hot home’,” said Yankee. “My understanding seems to be North Rosedale Park is maybe getting a little hip, but there was somebody else that looked at it before us and we were very anxious.”
United States housing market patterns by the National Association of Realtors
Byron Suggs, a realtor and mortgage specialist at Paramount Mortgage Group, said the housing shortage is due to a buildup of demand without distributing any supply for about a year.
“It’s a seller’s market like never seen before,” said Suggs. “I think the main thing is it’s taken a long time to catch up from the lack of inventory started last year.”
Suggs said for the past year sellers haven’t been comfortable allowing buyers into their homes and buyers haven’t been comfortable purchasing without seeing the house in person.
“The thing is, with the way the market is, you got a nice home and put it on the market, you’re going to get several offers over the weekend,” said Suggs.
Pages, a small locally-owned bookshop in Detroit. Susan Murphy is the owner of Pages, a small bookstore in Detroit. Pages, its publishers, and its property management came to a halt with the hold placed on in person operations. “March 16, I will never forget that day, that’s when I closed the store,” said Murphy. Inside of Pages, you can find tons of books and a cat named Pip.
Wayne County has been taken by storm, literally. One stormy day caused power outages, flooding, and property damage throughout the county. Bianca Stokes had experienced flooding in her Detroit home before, but it never gets easier. “As far as the flooding, our basement hasn’t flooded since 2014, when we had the last big flood,” said Stokes, a resident of the west side of Detroit. Stokes’s basement took the brunt of the damage.
ByKennedy Walters, Student Journalist, Artist, Blogger & Business Owner |
Courtesy: City of Detroit Good Neighbor Program expansion, “Get $50 to save a life.” “Save a Life – Make $50” is Detroit’s most recent expansion of the Good Neighbor Program to get more citizens vaccinated against COVID-19.
On May 3, 2021, Detroit piloted the expansion of the Good Neighbor Program, called “Save a Life,” which offers $50 prepaid cards to those who register and drive Detroiters to get the first dose of the vaccination.
In January, Good Neighbor started as a program to support senior citizens in which volunteers transported seniors to their vaccine appointment, getting an opportunity to get their own vaccination despite the age requirement.
As the eligibility for the vaccination expanded to everyone 16 and older, the city noticed a decline in the city’s rate of vaccinations.
“What if anybody who cared about someone enough to help them make the appointment, took them in, could get the same $50,” Mayor Mike Duggan said during a press conference on April 28:
Before the city announced the expansion, it offered rides to vaccination sites for $2 to Detroiters, while the city covered the actual cost of $35 to $50 for the trips. The Good Neighbor driver doesn’t have to be a Detroit resident. The driver is allowed to return for the second dose appointment for an additional payment of $50. Each trip can have up to three patients with appointments, which makes the neighbor eligible for $50 per person, each visit.
“Any Good Neighbor who earns $600 or more in prepaid cards for reimbursement will be required to complete a W9 form and file 1099 with their 2021 tax returns,” said Duggan.
Eligible Locations
The Good Neighbor Program is only eligible by appointment only at the following locations:
TCF drive-thru from 8 AM – 5 PM
Northwest Activities Center, 18100 Meyers from 9 AM – 7 PM
Straight Gate Church, 10100 Grand River from 9 AM – 7 PM
Community Saturday sites (9 AM – 1 PM – Good Neighbor begins May 8th)
Galilee Baptist Church
Grace Community Church
Kemeny Recreation Center
New Providence Baptist Church
Greater Emmanuel Church
The program is not valid for walk-up vaccination centers.
People in Detroit expressed their passion for the holiday Juneteenth. From mural paintings to graffiti art for sale. Some asked themselves if the holiday is worth celebrating considering how one celebrates Black History in February.
Terrence Washington said it’s time Juneteenth gets its proper recognition. “I think we should make it feel like a relevant holiday because it’s a piece of our history that was skipped and not taught in elementary, middle, or high school,” said Washington, 19, from Detroit Michigan. “We were only taught about the stealing and massacring of our people.”
Juneteenth, or Jubilee Day, is a holiday celebrated in the United States. It highlights African American culture and how enslaved people were notified of their freedom.
Photo of Bates Academy Elementary School. Photo by Serenity Smith
Detroit natives convey mixed reviews of the mask mandate getting lifted. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced that the COVID-19 restrictions would be lifted on June 22. Those who have not been vaccinated are still required to wear a face mask while those who have are required to wear them in certain establishments. You must still remain 6-feet apart.
To illustrate the jigsaw puzzle that explains health and food disparities in low-income communities, comparisons between two low-income communities, Flint and Detroit, reveal a lack of grocery stores with affordable prices and the abundance of fast-food restaurant are key challenges linked to adverse health issues such as obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. “It basically confirmed that there’s a lot of junk food on kids’ menus in poorer neighborhoods of urban areas,” said Rick Sadler, assistant professor in MSU’s College of Human Medicine’s Division of Public Health — Flint campus, who co-authored in 2018 a study on how students who attend schools in urban areas with high levels of socioeconomic distress consume foods with low levels of nutritional value such as fast-food.
Fast-food frequency in Detroit
“The number of fast food restaurants are too many to count, but I would say more than 10,” said Detroit resident Darion Jackson. “It’s harder to find healthier options when all you’re surrounded with is fast food.”
This video recorded while driving through Detroit shows fast-food restaurants dominated city blocks. Kenneth Matthews, a Detroit resident, agrees with Jackson on the increasing number of fast food restaurant in the city. Systemic racism
Sadler credits systemic racism as the root cause for food disparities.
