Why property taxes are preventing people from moving to Detroit

If you’re a leader in Detroit, your attention is trained on a big task: attract more people to the city. That’s for good reason — with more people comes more tax revenue. But the city is running into a problem when it comes to increasing its population: High property taxes.

Because property taxes are capped until a property is sold, homebuyers in Detroit neighborhoods that have become more desirable bear the burden of potentially very high taxes. As an example, hundreds of homes will see their taxes climb above $10,000, according to an Outlier Media estimate of the city’s 2026 tax roll.

So what does it mean when the system rewards staying still and punishes moving in? Kevin Bain is the chief financial officer for Public Sector Consultants, and a former debt manager for the city of Detroit. He spoke with The Metro's Robyn Vincent.

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