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Library funding and tax‑capture concerns raised; advocates ask council to reduce administrative fee and pursue tax refund claims
Summary
Speakers urged the City Council to reduce library administrative charges, investigate tax captures and support property‑tax refund claims for some foreclosed homeowners, and asked for planning support for the Van Dyke corridor.
Community speakers raised concerns about library funding, a city administrative fee, and tax captures that reduce local revenue for neighborhood services.
Russ Belant, a former library commissioner, said the library has lost an estimated $75,000,000 over the last decade because of tax captures and other transfers. Belant urged the city to cut the library administrative fee to $50,000 and to seek reimbursement for funds he said were wrongly removed from the library (he referenced a $407,000 theft by two former city employees). He told the council the administrative fee had once been $1,200,000 and was later reduced but that officials had not provided documentation for the charge.
Tahira Ahmad of the Coalition for Property Tax Justice told the council that homeowners foreclosed for unpaid property taxes between 2015 and 2020 in Wayne County may be eligible to recoup surplus sale proceeds. She provided a hotline for residents seeking help and said the deadline to apply for some relief was March 31. “If you were foreclosed for taxes and your property was sold for more than the taxes owed, the balance of that you can recoup,” Ahmad said, and she provided the coalition’s number: (313) 438‑8698.
Pat Bosch of Nortown CDC requested a planner and CDBG‑NOF support for Van Dyke corridor work and said residents are concerned about parking sales and the Board of Zoning Appeals process; she asked the council to investigate BZA actions.
Why it matters: speakers linked downtown tax captures and administrative transfers to reduced resources for neighborhood services, library operations and affordable housing. Advocates requested administrative fee reductions, reimbursement, and support for neighborhood planning grants.
What to watch: the council’s budget deliberations and any staff responses about the library administrative fee, tax captures, and property‑tax refund support ahead of the March 31 deadline.
